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 CALIFORNIA 
 
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 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 with funding from 
 
 Microsoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/dameheraldryOOwfswrich 
 
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 L1BR 
 
 UNIVERSITY Of 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 
DAME HERALDRY 
 
 BY 
 
 F. S. W. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 BOSTON 
 D. LOTHROP AND COMPANY 
 
 Franklin and Hawley Streets 
 
 
Copyright, 1886, 
 By D. Lothrop and Company. 
 
 Electrotyped 
 By C. J. Peters and Son, Boston. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 
 I. 
 
 II. 
 
 III. 
 
 IV. 
 
 V. 
 
 VI. 
 
 VII. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 IX. 
 
 X. 
 
 XI. 
 
 XII. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 The Young People who Suggested the Book .... 1 
 
 Crusader Legends 13 
 
 Augmentations 20 
 
 Debasement of Knights. — Tournaments 32 
 
 What Heraldry Means. — College of Arms .... 52 
 
 Classes of Arms. — Orders of Knighthood .... 63 
 Meaning of " Coat-of-Arms." — Stories Connected 
 
 with Flags. — Standards and Ensigns .... 83 
 Stories about Flags, continued, and Description of 
 
 an "Achievement." — Origin of Titles .... 101 
 Supporters. — Mottoes. — Shield. — Colors. — Met- 
 als. — Furs 124 
 
 Honorable Ordinaries. — Sub-Ordinaries 137 
 
 Other Decorations, Taken from Living Objects . . 161 
 
 Decorations Taken from Other Sources 182 
 
 Decorations Taken from Other Sources. — Hatch- 
 ments 196 
 
 til 
 
 510 
 

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Aberdeen, Lord 110 
 
 Abergavenny, Marquis of 184 
 
 Argtle, Duke of 53 
 
 Arundel of Wardour 22 
 
 Athol, Duke of 143 
 
 Audley, Lord 71 
 
 Bear and Ragged Staff 143 
 
 Batcheler, Rev. Stephen 120 
 
 Bayard, Chevalier 138 
 
 Bere, De la 110 
 
 Billets .... - . 155 
 
 Bohun 166 
 
 Bordure 155 
 
 bouchier 18 
 
 Brittany, Dukes of , 137 
 
 Brunswick 89 
 
 Buccleuch 143 
 
 Bulstrode 172 
 
 Butler 73 
 
 Byron 143 
 
 Carlos 182 
 
 Castile, Eleanor of 146 
 
 Chandos, Sir John 145 
 
 Chatham, Lord 156 
 
 Chichester 68 
 
 Clare, De 144 
 
 Clarendon 175 
 
 T 
 
VI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Clerk 182 
 
 Colt 64 
 
 Colonna 64 
 
 Crown and Bush 182 
 
 Crosses 149 
 
 Dalziel 182 
 
 Dauphin 173 
 
 Davenport , . 116 
 
 Derby, Lord 110 
 
 Devonshire, Duke of 171 
 
 Dimidiation 147 
 
 Douglas , 179 
 
 Drake , 141 
 
 Drayton 160 
 
 Edward the Confessor . . . . „ 148 
 
 England 106 
 
 Errol, Duke of 33 
 
 Erskine 141 
 
 France > . . . 186 
 
 Fret 153 
 
 Garter King-at-Arms 74 
 
 Graham 63 
 
 Grosvenor 143 
 
 Hamilton 116 
 
 Harp 203 
 
 Harrington 152 
 
 Hatchments 209 
 
 Hawkins, Sir John 137 
 
 Horn 54 
 
 Hotot, Agnes 113 
 
 Hume, David 158 
 
 Esle of Man 181 
 
 Keith 139 
 
 Kildare 126 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, vii 
 
 Kings of Jerusalem 149 
 
 Kingsale, Lord 163 
 
 Kirkpatrick 143 
 
 Lane, Jane 33 
 
 Leslie 129 
 
 Lockhart 179 
 
 London 66 
 
 Lorraine 15 
 
 Lozenge 155 
 
 Lucy 174 
 
 MacDonald 149 
 
 McClellan 116 
 
 Medici, De 21 
 
 montmorenci 162 
 
 Mortimer 156 
 
 Napier 24 
 
 Neville 184 
 
 Norfolk 26 
 
 Northumberland 155 
 
 Orford .... 19 
 
 Ossona 152 
 
 Oxford 184 
 
 Pale 141 
 
 Parr, Katherine 154 
 
 Pelham 200 
 
 Pelican 166 
 
 Pennycuik 182 
 
 Pepperell 120 
 
 Pollok 116 
 
 ponsonby 120 
 
 Portugal 156 
 
 Seal of United States, Frontispiece 
 
 Scrope 142 
 
 Sefton 148 
 
Vlil LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Seton 32 
 
 Seymour 70 
 
 Shrewsbury 72 
 
 Strathmore 33 
 
 Stourton 64 
 
 Surrey 29 
 
 Sutherland 154 
 
 Tau Cross 150 
 
 Tressure 153 
 
 Trusbuts 198 
 
 Ulster 180 
 
 Vere, De la 185 
 
 Vesey, De 17 
 
 Visconti 20 
 
 Wales, Prince of , 188 
 
 Waller 120 
 
 Wallop 159 
 
 Warren 203 
 
 Washington's Book Plate 8 
 
 Westminster, Duke of 175 
 
 Wodehouse 159 
 
 Worcester, Bishopric of 158 
 
DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO SUGGESTED THE BOOK. 
 
 Yes, it is a lively American group of boys and girls, that family 
 which I have in my mind just at this moment. It goes without 
 saying that they love mischief, and when they are not as busy 
 as bees at school, they are just as busy at something else at 
 home. They are such voracious readers of Wide Awake that the 
 head of the house, in order to keep the covers on the books, or the 
 leaves inside the covers, is obliged to subscribe for no less than three 
 sets a year ! Of course, all who have their wits sufficiently advanced 
 belong to the Chautauqua Young Folk's Reading Union. But they 
 are not only members of this association, every one of them follows 
 all the hobbies afloat in the play-ground or the school-room. They 
 are collecting <he coin of the realm, past, present, and to be, and 
 make the life of a good-hearted cousin in the distant region of Hong 
 Kong a burden by their many pleas for specimens of the legal 
 tender of that country. Furthermore, they have caught the postage- 
 stamp mania, and the oldest boy, who possesses literary aspirations, 
 has begun to exhibit stray autographs of various local celebrities, led 
 off by a gorgeous card from the executive mansion itself, on which 
 it is easy to read the name of our august President. Nothing would 
 
 induce him to divulge the way in which this treasure was ob- 
 
 l 
 
2 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 tained. My unqualified admiration of such a great feather in his 
 cap led to the bringing forth by a little sister of some hidden 
 treasures peculiar to herself. 
 
 " Oh, that's Polly's latest craze ! You see, last winter, grandma 
 gave a big party, and B. S. V. P.'d all the invitations. Polly saved 
 every note that came, and cut off the seals, and all the what-you- 
 call-'em's at the top. Now, every time mamma gets a letter Polly 
 has to have a look at it, and then, if it is aristocratic, snip go the 
 scissors." 
 
 "No, I don't, either," protested poor Polly, confusedly; "anyhow, 
 the only reason you don't take the postage-stamps is because 
 they are only just the everlasting two-cent fellows. Besides, the 
 best ones never came from grandma's party — they were most all 
 nothing but letters, queer little ducks and cut-off arms, and such 
 things, but Ettie McCormick and I sent to England for these beauties, 
 just where Ettie's cousin bought hers, and we got lovely little pic- 
 tures. The store is in London, somewhere on Pickaninny Street — " 
 
 " O ho ! O ho ! did they dance the double shuffle there, and steal 
 chickens ? — Pickaninny, oh, my ! " 
 
 "Well, it sounded just like that, and who was it called the 
 twelve patriarchs the twelve partridges yesterday morning at prayers, 
 I'd just like to know ? " 
 
 So we looked at the little English crests and coats-of-arms that 
 Polly hoarded with so much care, and I asked the children what the 
 little crowned hearts and diagonal bars, the golden fleur-de-lys, and 
 the rampant lions meant. They studied the enigmatical mixture of 
 lions and animals for some moments, and shook their heads, one 
 young hopeful declaring that all they meant was that the people 
 
WHO SUGGESTED THIS BOOK. 3 
 
 who had them thought they were better than the people who hadn't. 
 The big brother covered the humiliation of his ignorance by de- 
 claring that Americans ought not to know anything about such 
 things; we were all equals, etc. 
 
 " Not too fast, little people," said the father, just coming in ; 
 "even our republic, with all its scorn of titles and insignia, shows a. 
 trace, after all, of the old heraldic spirit. Which of you can tell me 
 where that trace is, and what it is ? " 
 
 As nobody seemed to know, he asked them if the United States 
 had a coat-of-arms, or not. The big brother recovered himself, and 
 the spread eagle was quickly displaying his wings and the shield 
 on its breast in all its glory before us. The motto, too, was given, 
 but when some one asked what it signified, although the English 
 rendering was echoed b3 r a chorus of voices, no one but the father 
 could tell the history of its origin. 
 
 " The shield is rather prett} r ," said the father ; " tell me what it 
 means, and why we chose it ? " No one knew. " Ah, ha," was the 
 paternal rejoinder ; " it seems to me that although you may not care 
 much for the plumes in your neighbors' hats, it would be as well for 
 you to understand what your country itself has chosen as a proper 
 adornment. It was on the very day when the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence was signed and read, that wise old Dr. Franklin, Mr. John 
 Adams, and Mr. Thomas Jefferson were appointed by the eminent 
 men of the land, then gathered together in Philadelphia, to put 
 their worthy heads together and concoct a device for the Great Seal 
 of the United States of America, or, in other words, to originate a 
 coat-of-arms that should satisfy the needs of the new-born Republic, 
 and by which she might be distinguished amidst her sister nations. 
 
4 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 There happened at that time to be in this country a French .West 
 Indian named Simitier, who knew how to cut silhouette portraits, — 
 a kind of artistic production then very fashionable. He could also 
 paint miniatures and execute rather pretty water-colors. Upon him 
 did these good patriots fall, insisting that he must help them in 
 their exigency. The shield which, after much labor, he produced, 
 was one divided into six quarters. Dr. Franklin's eye glanced dis- 
 approvingly over it. Such European fol-de-rol did not please him. 
 He would prefer to see a representation of the grand Old Testament 
 warrior, Moses, in his well-known position on the shores of the Red 
 Sea, with his staff uplifted and the affrighted waters gaping before 
 him. This for one side of the shield, and on the other should be 
 engraved Pharaoh and his iniquitous hosts gasping their lives away 
 in the rushing waves of the returning sea. Mr. Adams, who now 
 gave his attention to the design, was one of the remaining two that 
 prevented the committee from being a one-man power. He thought 
 as slightingly of Moses as a typical American subject as he scorned 
 the thoroughly European incongruity of the West Indian. He had 
 a classical taste, and thought of the choice of Hercules, where the 
 hero rests on his club, with Virtue standing beside him, pointing 
 persuasively towards a mountain up which it seems his duty to 
 ascend, and Sloth lies at his feet, trying to persuade him to tread 
 the flowery walks of pleasure with her. Then Mr. Jefferson — he had 
 his individual views »on the subject, and did not hesitate to express 
 his disapprobation of all the above suggestions. He looked, how- 
 ever, with greater favor upon the Scriptures as a mine of suggestion, 
 than upon the entire realm of mythology, and thought the children 
 of Israel, who marched through the wilderness with their Baedeker 
 
WHO SUGGESTED THIS BOOK. 5 
 
 in the shape of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, as not a 
 bad idea for the prominent side of the seal. For the other side, it 
 would please him to see Hengist and Horsa, from whom it is 
 claimed we are descended. Jefferson seems to have had more decided 
 notions upon this subject than did his two companions, and it was 
 finally decided that he should solve the difficulty alone. He there- 
 fore made a design, thoroughly satisfactory, no doubt, to himself, 
 but, unfortunately, the unreasonable nation for whom it was drawn 
 showed itself critical, and the design was not accepted. Three years 
 later two gentlemen from' Virginia and one from Georgia were 
 appointed to struggle as best they could with this question. The 
 result of their deliberations was a new design, quite different from 
 all those which had preceded it. Congress took it, looked and 
 frowned. It was evident that what she wanted she did not know, 
 but just as evident was it that what she did not want she also knew. 
 Three more years went by, and a new committee was formed. 
 They toiled and worked, but could not find it within them to do 
 better than their predecessors. Congress now grew cross, and in a 
 fit of desperation bade its secretary put an end to the matter if he 
 could ; if not, the country would set an example to all other nations 
 by doing without a seal. This good secretary was of a hopeful tem- 
 perament, and, calling to his assistance the talents of a friend in 
 Philadelphia, he succeeded in producing what he was sure would 
 please the demands of his exacting master. Congress had thought 
 herself ready to adopt any device that might be forthcoming ; but, 
 alas for the hopes of the sanguine secretary ! she found she 
 could greet this sketch with no greater warmth than she had 
 done the many others. Fortunately, the courage of the commit- 
 
C DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 tee was equal to the occasion, and a final drawing for a seal 
 was produced, that, with some modifications, was adopted. The 
 motto, E Pluribus Unum, was the suggestion of Jefferson, and 
 appeared in his early design. He took it from a Latin poem called 
 'Moretum,' written by Virgil. The poem is a vivid description 
 of the early meal of an Italian peasant, and in it little descriptions 
 of his early life are given. ' Moretum ' is a kind of pottage or 
 salad, made of herbs, that the peasant, with his servants, mixes before 
 the break of day, grinding all the ingredients together with a 
 pestle. 
 
 "So much for the seal as we look at it. And now for the significa- 
 tion of the various devices that form the seal. The designers took 
 two of what England calls her noblest 'ordinaries,' or marks, the 
 'chief,' or upper third of the shield, and the vertical lines, or 
 'pales.' The pale is repeated thirteen times, and represents the 
 thirteen original States, all of which join together in supporting 
 the chief. This chief unites them all and represents Congress. 
 Congress, naturally, preserves the union of the States, but what 
 would become of this august body were it not upheld by the States ? 
 The colors, too, are significant, white representing purity, and red 
 valor. The chief is blue, and that means vigilance, besides many 
 other noble qualities. As for the eagle, upon whose breast the 
 escutcheon is placed, that noble bird is to show that the American 
 Republic must depend upon itself, and upon itself alone. In one 
 claw it holds the olive-branch of peace, and in the other the arrows 
 of war. The crest above the eagle's head is a constellation, and 
 shows that a new state is taking its place among the older powers. 
 The reverse of the Great Seal is a pyramid, but this is never used. 
 
WHO SUGGESTED THIS BOOK. 7 
 
 " But," continued the father, " it is not alone upon our great 
 National Seal that heraldry in her queer republican dress manages 
 to get introduced to our good American society. You can see her 
 asserting herself in a much more conspicuous manner elsewhere. 
 Indeed, she is doing so this very moment upstairs in our garret." 
 
 " Never ! " chorused the indignant children. 
 
 "Ah, but she is. Wasn't it only last Fourth of July, in the 
 evening, that I saw you roll up our great flag and tuck it away in 
 some trunk of your mother's in the attic ? To be sure, you did so, 
 and you know how carefully you folded it, and how proud you are 
 of it ; and now I wonder if any one of this good family who think 
 that 'the best part of an aristocracy lies under the ground,' can 
 tell me where those beloved stars and stripes were found, and for 
 what reason we selected them as the emblems for our national flag?" 
 
 " Yes, indeed, I do," piped Polly's pet sister ; " I know : — 
 
 " 'When Freedom from her mountain height 
 
 Unfurled her standard to the air, 
 She tore the azure robe of night 
 
 And set the stars of glory there ; 
 She mingled with its gorgeous dyes 
 The milky baldric of the skies, 
 And striped its pure celestial white 
 With streakings of the morning light ; 
 Then from his mansion in the sun, 
 She called her eagle-bearer down, 
 And gave into his mighty hand 
 
 The symbol of her chosen land ! ' " 
 
 "That was a very beautiful fancy of Mr. brake's," said the 
 father, as he kissed her flushed cheek, "I am very glad that my 
 little girl has already learned one of the jewels of our American 
 
8 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 poetry, but I am afraid the idea is only a fancy. The fact is, 
 we are displaying, actually displaying, some of old England's 
 cast-off glory! Our stars and our stripes, 
 altered a little, to be sure, to meet the needs 
 of the occasion, come from the old Washing- 
 ton coat-of-arms." 
 
 At this the whole family of seven children 
 sat upright, stiff and scarlet. Nothing but 
 the fact that the word of their father was 
 
 Washington's Book Plate. . » j -n'tf j. aa -i j i i i • 
 
 a sort oi second .Bible to them, and that his 
 person, if no one else's, was to be held in reverence, prevented an 
 explosion of violent and vigorous denial. 
 
 "Nothing but old English stars, after all," moaned sister number 
 one; "I don't think they are half as pretty now as I did before." 
 
 "Why, children," laughed their mother, "what shall we do with 
 you? Your very name is as English as Johnny MacGregor's is 
 Scotch, and yet I have never heard one of you suggest that 
 your father should travel down to Springfield and get our 
 dignified body of legislators to alter it to a thoroughly good, 
 indigenous American name. But it isn't too late to do that even 
 yet, and until the next session begins you can be revolving the pros 
 and cons of such good surnames as Mr. Young Man not Afraid, 
 or Mr. Swift Moccasons, or some other appropriate Indian 
 names." 
 
 "I hadn't thought of that," said the middle boy, reflectively, 
 "most of our names are English, aren't they. I guess Johnny 
 MacGregor hadn't either, when we were teasing him yesterday 
 about the lilies and the roses." 
 
WHO SUGGESTED THIS BOOK. 9 
 
 " What was that," asked the mother. 
 " Why, don't you know it, mamma, 
 
 " ' The lilies may fade and their white petals droop, 
 The rose from its stem may sever, 
 The thistle and shamrock together may die, 
 But the stars, they shall shine on forever.' " 
 
 " He did think of it, too," savagely burst in the pet sister. " Just 
 after you left, Sam McPherson stuck his hands in his pockets and 
 said he was a bigger Briton than any MacGregor ever was, besides 
 being born an American too. Johnny looked just as mad as could 
 be and turning his nose up at him, said our whole nation wasn't 
 anything more than just a pack of poor relations, third or fourth- 
 rate cousins, who as soon as they got a little money ran straight 
 back to the old country, and fawned around and cringed about for 
 a little recognition at the doors of their rich relatives." 
 
 " Oh, awful ! " chimed in all the children. 
 
 " Whatever truth there may be in what Johnny's blunt Scotch 
 tongue has said," remarked the father, with some gravity, " I hope 
 none of my boys tried to equal him in lack of courtesy." 
 
 "No, we didn't," said the second brother, "but I am afraid it 
 was not because we wouldn't have done so if only we could have 
 thought up something pat and true to say." 
 
 " Oh, Joe, I don't know about that," corrected truthful little Polly. 
 "I am sure I heard you say something about the poor relation 
 slamming their doors on these rich cousins one day at Yorktown." 
 
 " Maybe I did, but that was just the solemn truth. I do wish, 
 Peggy-i y° u didn't have such sharp ears, and that you didn't tell 
 things in such a queer way. It sounds just as though I meant — 
 
10 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 t 
 
 well, as though I meant to say something not just — you know." But 
 the laugh was on Joe, and it was not until quiet was restored that 
 the father proceeded to tell them that " it was not long after the 
 Declaration of Independence had startled royal George the Third, 
 as he sat in the English studio of the great portrait-painter Benja- 
 min West, that Congress announced as its dictum that henceforth 
 the flag of the United States of America should consist of thirteen 
 stripes, alternate, red and white, with a canton, or square, of blue 
 in the right-hand upper corner, dotted with thirteen shining stars, a 
 constellation. John Adams is said to have suggested the constella- 
 tion of Lyra, which is formed of thirteen stars, as the most appropri- 
 ate representation for our little cluster of states ; not only because 
 of the coincidence in number, but also for the reason that the lyre 
 in the hands of Orpheus signified harmony. The blue of the field 
 was taken from the edge of the old Covenanters' banner in Scotland, 
 
 r 
 
 and in our flag meant the league and covenant of the United Colo- 
 nies against oppression. The stars were arranged in the form of a 
 ring, which, like the circling serpent of the Egyptians, symbolized 
 eternity. Our English cousins, however, do not always read the 
 meaning that we give to our stars and stripes. Some years ago, 
 when Campbell was one of the brightest of Britain's poets, he wrote 
 this : — 
 
 " ' United States ! your banner wears 
 Two emblems — one of fame, 
 Alas ! the other that it bears 
 Reminds us of your shame, 
 
 Your standard's constellation types 
 White freedom by its stars, 
 But what's the meaning of your stripes — 
 They mean your negroes' scars.' 
 
WHO SUGGESTED THIS BOOK. 11 
 
 " As this was a rather unfamiliar reading of our American symbol, 
 and rather distasteful withal, it cannot be said that Mr. Campbell's 
 verse received a very cordial greeting on this side of the Atlantic. 
 Before long a reply was sent back to the audacious poet, fashioned 
 in this way : — 
 
 " 'England! whence came each glowing hue 
 That tints your flag of meteor light — 
 The streaming red, the deeper blue, 
 Crossed with moonbeams' pearly white! 
 The blood and bruise — the blue and red — 
 Let Asia's groaning millions speak, 
 The white, it tells of color fled 
 From starving Erin's pallid cheek! — ' 
 
 "The retort courteous was taken in good part by Campbell, 
 and a very magnificent set of his works was forthwith sent to the 
 doughty champion of the maligned flag. 
 
 " Two rather curious alterations are noticed in regard to the use 
 in our own country of the stars and stripes. Oh our banner the 
 stars are five-pointed, and on our coins the points are six. It is 
 possible that the designer of our coins came from the continent, 
 whilst that of our flag was one of England's children. Then in 
 the arrangement of our stripes ; for many years before the civil war 
 the North always displayed the flag with the larger number of the 
 stripes in red, while in the South white was the predominating color. 
 Besides these two fields, the seal and the flag, in which Heraldry 
 shows a trace of relationship with our Republic, each State permits 
 her to claim it in a special way with itself. Each State has its own 
 seal or coat-of-arms, and although some of these seals show a 
 remarkable disregard for all known laws of heraldry, and are really 
 
12 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 quite sufficient to lay this ' Fair Queen of Science ' in her tomb, 
 she still lives, and each State clings to the original symbol adopted. 
 The seal of Maryland does not suffer so much from the ridicule of 
 English heraldists as do some of the others, it being embellished 
 with the shield of Lord Baltimore. Massachusetts, too, is allowed 
 to escape with but little criticism, as it is associated with the 
 memories of the good Sir Algernon Sidney, who, during his life, 
 was so warm and true a friend of the Colony. The others, how- 
 ever, especially of such recent States as Oregon and Kansas, tax 
 the powers of description and the self-restraint of English heralds 
 to the utmost. One ambitious herald endeavors to describe the 
 Kansas coat-of-arms in pure heraldic terms, — for you must know 
 that heraldry has a language of its own, — and succeeds in this 
 way — " 
 
 "Now, father," interrupted the oldest daughter, "you mustn't; 
 my dearest friend at school comes from Topeka, in Kansas, and I 
 couldn't, I just couldn't, with any sense of honor, listen to a single 
 word that would hurt her feelings." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 CRUSADER LEGENDS. 
 
 In this way the evening's talk kept on until the little heads dis- 
 appeared to hobnob with the pillows of their beds, and it occurred 
 to me that, after all, perhaps this " corpse of the feudal ages," this 
 institution of heraldry, brilliant with memories of tournaments and 
 hard-won victories, might interest even the stalwart republican 
 minds of our non-reverencing boys and girls. " Feudal corpse " as 
 it is called, not only the Englishman, but the American, pays a 
 very pretty annual sum for keeping it properly embalmed. 
 
 An English boy, whose father seals his letters with a noble crest 
 or an ancient coat-of-arms, knows that for the privilege of so doing a 
 guinea goes yearly into the heraldic exchequer ; and if his mother 
 fancies to ride abroad in her own coach, upon the panels of which 
 the same old heirloom shines, then, instead of one guinea, two must 
 pay the tax. America does none of this ; she can fling such money- 
 making laws a defiance, as with great republican serenity she did 
 some years ago, when Mr. Crampton of England was the British am- 
 bassador to America. His coach, brought from England, met with 
 some slight mishap, and was despatched to a carriage-builder who 
 plied his trade in the American capital. Not many weeks after the 
 coach had been repaired and returned, the ambassador had occasion 
 to step again into the factory, and there, to his amazement, he 
 
 beheld a number of buggies, coaches, and wagons, all bearing his 
 
 13 
 
14 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 own ornamental coat-of-arms ! When careful scrutiny had satisfied 
 him that the device was his very own, his British blood rose, and 
 his British tongue was quick to inquire how this happened. Was 
 he to be the recipient of a munificent and unexpected gift? "I 
 reckon not, sir," was the careless reply, "you see, when your 
 carriage was here, some of our customers admired the pattern of 
 your arms, and concluded to have them painted on their own 
 carriages ! " But though America gets rid of the tax-gatherer, she 
 doesn't escape the herald's grasp entirely. She must pay her 
 share in the cost of the myrrh, frankincense, and all sweet spices. 
 This she does when her merchant princes, travelling throughout the 
 length and breadth of Europe, feel a sense of lack that nothing but 
 a call upon the College of Arms in London can relieve. With fifty 
 dollars bright and yellow, as good a coat-of-arms can be procured as 
 the wits and fancy of the college can contrive ; or, if with a name 
 that answers to any of Great Britain's lords, he chooses to say that 
 " all Stuarts are cousin to the king," he can get his claim for a few 
 shillings well studied out, and perhaps be permitted to assume the 
 aristocratic bearings. But in olden days, when the nobility could 
 neither read nor write, and when prowess on the battle-field was the 
 surest and safest stepping-stone to high honors, fair heraldry was a 
 very different nymph from the withered and shrivelled old crone 
 that we confess she has now become, although we don't admit that 
 she's a corpse yet, however near we may think she is to becoming 
 one. To shine before the eyes of their commanders called forth the 
 highest effort of every soldier. Who could tell but that, as at 
 Agincourt, when "every man, no matter how vile or low he be, 
 who for the king's cause has fought and won to-day, is declared of 
 
CRUSADER LEGENDS. 15 
 
 noble blood and entitled to bear arms," so any day daring and 
 extraordinary feats of valor might once more be rewarded. To 
 induce the devout and the soldierly element of the masses to join 
 in the great crusading movement, Peter the Hermit was allowed to 
 grant not only free absolution for all past and future sins, but to 
 promise that if a soldier in those holy wars should chance to slay an 
 infidel, then such soldier should, oh, joy unspeakable, be declared 
 noble, and permitted to assume for himself whatever device he 
 might select. To commemorate the noble deeds which gave birth 
 to such coats-of-arms, the children of these heroes of the battle-field 
 treasured with intense pride the devices thus chosen. Many and 
 bitter were the feuds engendered in later years by similar arms 
 appearing upon the shields of stranger knights. The legendary 
 origin of these crusading arms was as dear as an untainted name 
 to their owners; and, while mixed with much that is purely 
 imaginary, still these traditions have been handed down for many 
 generations from father to son, until what is true and what is 
 false cannot be distinguished. Should any of our boys and girls, 
 after reading these tales, chance to visit the 
 old tilting-grounds across the sea, I think they 
 would find their enjoyment of the journey in 
 no degree lessened by a knowledge of these 
 treasured remnants of an old heroic age. And 
 these legends, that, despite the sneers and scoffs '^** , >^y^ JS * - 
 of the unstoried, practical genius of the day, Lorraine, 
 
 have been so carefully treasured in Europe by the posterity of the 
 bold and victorious ancestors who fought in Palestine — they 
 are k 'as plenty as dog-tails." Amongst them is the story told by 
 
16 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 the old French house of Lorraine. It claims that Godfrey de 
 Bouillon, the first Crusader king of Jerusalem, had with him a 
 notable monk, an ancestor of this house, who was one day sadly 
 in need of a quill with which to put his signature to some 
 military document. No quill was to be had, but the genius of God- 
 frey was equal to the occasion. To seize his bow, cast an eye heaven- 
 ward, and there with his piercing glance to descry, flying over 
 David's Tower in Jerusalem, three eagles, or alerions, as they were 
 then called, was but the work of a moment ; to draw that bow, and 
 send an arrow swiftly speeding eagle wards took but a moment more, 
 and before his illustrious followers could fairly wink their eyes, or 
 the birds know what had struck them, down came the eaglets spitted, 
 one above the other, upon the royal arrow. A full supply for the 
 entire army lay at his feet, and as he plucked the one required for 
 the friar's use, he announced that henceforth, as his coat-of-arms, 
 the monk should display a golden shield, crossed with a red bar, 
 and thereon three silver alerions. If this taxes your faith, dear 
 children, don't believe the story. Somebody has sagely remarked 
 that it was not, after all, Godfrey de Bouillon who drew the long 
 bow, but the person who first told the tale ! I dare say that when I 
 tell you that the word alerion is really a very pretty anagram of 
 the word Lorraine you will easily understand me. The prosaic 
 heraldists of to-day who call heraldry a corpse, and turn up their 
 noses at our pretty fairy-like tales, insist that it was on this account 
 that the arms were chosen. The English tell a tale to match it, 
 and show us the arms of the Count de Vesey, of Ireland. This 
 family, without the least scruple of conscience, inform us that 
 although they were at one time barons of Northumberland, and 
 
CRUSADER LEGENDS. 
 
 17 
 
 Vesey, or de Vesci. 
 
 are very proud of that connection, they can prove a much older and 
 nobler pedigree than the Northumberland barons could show. In- 
 deed, the first ancestor whom they deign to claim is Charlemagne 
 the great, Emperor of France and of all the 
 West. His fifth son had a son, and that son 
 had another, who was no less brilliant a person- 
 age than our fiery Godfrey of Bouillon. Great 
 is the satisfaction that our noble family feel in 
 their relationship to so illustrious an individ- 
 ual, who "at the head of seventy thousand foot 
 and ten thousand horse, all arrayed in complete armor and under 
 the banners of many princes, but united under his own standard, 
 entered Palestine to exterminate the followers of Mahomet." Jeru- 
 salem did submit, and Godfrey reigned as king. The De Veseys, 
 as his descendants, continue to bear the patriarchal cross ill 
 memory of his glorious deeds. 
 
 Another legend is that told by three old French families, — the 
 Coucis, the Longuevals, and the Chatillons. They declare that 
 three of their ancestors were comrades in the siege of Jerusalem. 
 One day, the weather being sultry, they were tempted to bathe in 
 some neighboring stream, and whilst thus refreshing themselves, 
 were startled by seeing the enemy dashing towards them. They 
 had but a moment, but it was sufficient to enable them to seize their 
 fur-lined velvet mantles from the river's bank, twist them about 
 their left arms as a shield, and grasp their swords. Then, in no way 
 affrighted, they met the Saracens, and succeeded in not only nobly 
 defending themselves, but in vanquishing the foe. In memory of 
 this they assumed similar coats-of-arms, with but slight variations. 
 
18 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 Their shields were divided into six quarters. On one shield the 
 divisions ran lengthwise, in another horizontally, and on the third 
 diagonally. Each was in gold and vair, vair being a species of fur, 
 about which we will hear more later. 
 
 The English are quite as proud of their connection with the Cru- 
 sades as the French, and the Newtons of England are not ashamed 
 of an ancestor by marriage, a Sir Ancel Gornay, who attended 
 Richard Cceur de Lion in his crusades, and was one of the besiegers 
 of Ascalon. There, by his great valor, he was so successful as to 
 capture an unlucky Moorish king. Proud, indeed, was he of this 
 exploit, and, upon returning to his native land, he bestowed, as a 
 crest, upon his admiring family, " a king of the Moors habited in a 
 robe, crowned, kneeling and surrendering with his right hand his 
 sword." The Bouchiers, too, Earls of Essex, show for their coat-of- 
 arms a silver field, with a scalloped red cross in its centre, and a 
 water bag, or bouget, in each corner. For a crest 
 they have a Saracen, or, to be exact, the head 
 of one, wearing a long cap and coronet. Should 
 you chance to ask any of their descendants what 
 the meaning of all this is, they would (per- 
 haps !) invite you to accompany them to a dilapi- 
 dated manor-house in Essex County, and there, 
 in the dusky shadows of a grand old hall, they 
 would point out, in an ancient painting that hangs 
 upon the wall, two figures, one of which, they will tell you, is a 
 Bouchier, long since gone to glory, but whom this picture rep- 
 resents as engaged in desperate conflict with the other figure. This 
 other figure is the undoubted representation of a pagan king, and 
 
 Bouchier. 
 
 Essex. 
 
CRUSADER LEGENDS. 
 
 19 
 
 the royal infidel is evidently being very much worsted in the com- 
 bat ; the triumphant expression of the good knight Bouchier, who, 
 for "the truth of Christ," is doing such valiant work, assures 
 us that the Saracen will speedily be vanquished. Since the time 
 of this contest they continue to display the head of the infidel as 
 their crest, and at the same time they have also assumed the sur- 
 name of Bouchier, or butcher! Undesirable as such an honorable 
 appellation may appear to us, their adopting it was consistent with 
 an ancient signification which it possessed. It was given to all 
 great heroes, and was considered a glorious surname. I think, 
 however, we will not begrudge the Bouchiers their claim to this 
 distinction, and be satisfied with whatever humble cognomen chance 
 may have been so good as to give us. 
 
 Another Crusader legend ornaments the escutcheon of the Earls 
 of Orford. They also owe their crest to the holy wars. One of 
 their worthy ancestors, Sir John de Robsart, was 
 a Knight of the Garter and a Knight Banneret. 
 He took part in the Hungarian crusade, some time 
 in 1300, and was one of the most noted military 
 commanders of the day. So soldierly was his bear- 
 ing, and so great was his military skill during this 
 crusade, that Richard II. gave " his beloved and 
 faithful knight" a sum of money out of his 
 own revenue and replaced the crest that he at Wal P° le . Earlof orford. 
 that time displayed — the Wheel of St. Catharine — by one of these 
 extremely popular crests, the head of a Saracen. These Saracen 
 heads, which you will so frequently notice in English coat-of-arms 
 were probably assumed by their owners many years after the inci- 
 dents with which they are connected had taken place. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 AUGMENTATIONS. 
 
 Amongst the Italian tales connected with the Crusades is that 
 of Otho Visconti, one of the early lords of Milan, and Duke of 
 Lombardy. He acquired the device that now shines in the coat-of- 
 arms belonging to both the city of Milan and the Province of 
 Lombardy during the illustrious Holy Wars. A huge Saracen, 
 beside whose Goliath-like form Otho appeared as little greater 
 than a grasshopper, met him in deadly conflict. 
 The Saracen of course was conquered, or we 
 shouldn't have the tale to relate, and Otho took 
 the enemy's shield, which was a serpent crowned 
 and devouring a child, from him, and adopted it 
 as his own. It was in this and similar ways that 
 many of the early shields originated. 
 But when such arms became universal with knights, and their 
 insignia grew to be as well known as their very names, the question 
 arose as to what could be done by the leaders to stimulate the loyalty 
 and valor of their followers. To accomplish this, many were the 
 princely grants of land and rich annuities which grateful kings 
 showered upon their loyal subjects when unusual deeds of self- 
 devotion to their country and their king demanded recognition. 
 
 But no reward was more highly prized by the flower of English 
 nobility than was the gift of what is called " An Augmentation." 
 
 20 
 
AUGMENTATIONS. 
 
 21 
 
 An augmentation is some little ornament, a rose, perhaps, or a 
 dagger, a star, a lily, or, at the very most, a lion from the shield of 
 England, or the Tressure from the Scottish shield. These were 
 royal arms, and the permission to display them on their own shield, 
 with some little change from their original form, was an honor of 
 the highest degree. Sometimes these augmentations were given to 
 foreigners by sovereigns of various countries, in recognition of some 
 act of marked merit. Even Cosmo de Medici, the most illustrious 
 of the great Florentine family of that name, was proud to add a 
 sixth bezant, or shall we call it polka dot, to the five already on his 
 shield, when this bezant was decorated with the 
 royal arms of France. The right to bear this was 
 given to Cosmo by the French king, as a tribute 
 to the wisdom and genius displaj'ed by Cosmo in 
 the conduct of Florentine affairs. Another case 
 was that of the warlike Arundel of Wardour. 
 Rudolph of Germany bestowed upon him, as a De Medici, 
 
 mark of high favor, the right to display the Royal Eagle of Germany. 
 He also made him a count of the Roman Empire, as a recognition of 
 his courageous conduct against the Turks. When he returned to 
 England, he was desirous of taking precedence according to his Ger- 
 man title ; but the peers of England refused to acknowledge his right 
 to do so. He insisted; and so exasperated did the nobles become 
 that at last, in high dudgeon, they had recourse to the queen. Eliza- 
 beth, who, as the old Dutch ambassadors cautiously expressed it, 
 "had a tongue well hung in her head," made answer that "Faithful 
 subjects should keep their eyes at home, and not gaze upon foreign 
 crowns ; that she, for her part, did not care that they should wear a 
 
22 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 stranger's mark, or dance after the whistle of every foreigner ! " I 
 am afraid, therefore, that poor Arundel of Wardour profited little 
 by the well meant gift of the grateful German sovereign. 
 
 Arundel of Wardour. 
 
 Such a mark of kingly favor as that of the wreath, or tressure, 
 of Scotland, which, if you look on the shield of the great English 
 admiral, Lord Napier, you cannot fail to notice, is an heirloom 
 much valued by the family possessing it. This tressure, and the 
 crest above it, consisting of a cluster of spears rising from a 
 fortress, were given, not to Lord Napier himself, great as his merit 
 
AUGMENTATIONS. 23 
 
 was, but to a stalwart ancestor of his, Scott of Thirlestane, who carried 
 as leal and true a Scottish heart as ever beat beneath the tartan 
 plaid. King James of Scotland, though a young man when killed, 
 had succeeded in making himself exceedingly unpopular with the 
 Protestant nobility of Scotland, on account of the favors that, with 
 lavish hand, he poured upon the Romish clergy. This he did, not 
 only from his own inclinations, but to please his queen, Marie of 
 Guise better known as Mary Queen of Scots. The days had 
 grown very dark for Scotland. James, pricked on by Mary, 
 availed himself of every pretext to annoy the English king by 
 Border forays. And this constant state of petty warfare, added to 
 the favor showed towards the Catholics, and the poverty withal 
 that was everywhere visible in the Scottish kingdom, inflamed 
 the chieftains against their sovereign. The majority of the hungry 
 barons felt their animosity grow daily, as they saw the priestly 
 courtiers fatten at their expense, and it was with envy that they 
 looked upon the lot of their more fortunate southern neighbors. 
 So it happened that when the English began to retaliate upon the 
 Scots for the ravages committed upon the Border, and managed to 
 force their way into the very fastnesses of suffering Scotland, and 
 James summoned the barons to unite under his banner and expel 
 the enemy from their land, they agreed to do so, and, with all the 
 valor born of mountain life, were able to drive the English back. 
 But at this moment, when the king, flushed with victory, was 
 burning with desire to follow up his advantage by an overwhelming 
 attack upon the English in their own country, the sullen nobles 
 declared that all their pledges had been fulfilled, and they should 
 return to their own castles. In vain did the king implore them to 
 
24 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 follow him, promising a glorious victory : their hearts were already 
 more than half given to the Protestant English king, and they 
 withdrew coldly, all save one, loyal Scott of Thirlestane. He alone 
 felt his heart glow with fervor for king and country, and, with true 
 courage, boldly swore, upon his honor as a knight and faithful 
 subject, to follow the fortunes of his king wheresoever they might 
 
 lead him, and, with his retinue of vassals, placed himself beside his 
 humiliated master. For this he was rewarded by having the 
 Scottish Tressure placed upon his shield, and with it received the 
 crest of spears and the motto, " Ready, aye, ready." This coat-of- 
 arms finally became the shield of Lord Napier, and in his name we 
 find an added legendary interest. So exceedingly legendary is its 
 character, however, that it is only in the darkest, deepest, least 
 
AUGMENTATIONS. 25 
 
 explorable corner of the Napier heart that we find hidden the 
 conviction that they are descended from the ancient Thanes or 
 Stewards of Lennox, and that the reason why the name of Napier 
 was substituted for that of Steward was a most honorable one. 
 They whisper to one another that when King David II. of Scotland 
 was engaged in the seemingly never-ending Border warfare with 
 England, he at one time summoned every subject capable of bear- 
 ing arms to his standard. The Earl of Lennox answered by 
 sending his second son, with as large a following as could be spared 
 from the castle. The chieftains thus gathered together met the 
 enemy, but for some reason their ranks began to weaken. Donald, 
 the son of Lennox, seeing this, dashed up to his father's standard- 
 bearer, and, wrenching the colors from his grasp, charged the foe 
 with such impetuosity that the tide of battle was turned, and the 
 Scottish king was able to feel that Scotland still was his. The 
 enemy vanquished, the king then gathered the troops together and 
 told them that though all had done gallantly, still one amongst 
 them stood pre-eminent, one who had " na pier," no equal ! From 
 that time up to the present moment have his descendants, with 
 secret pride, rejoiced in the name, and made good use of the royal 
 grants of land with which it was accompanied. 
 
 We see the Tressure on another coat-of-arms, that belonging to 
 the noblest peer in all the realm, one who through many genera- 
 tions has frequently been the most beloved of kings or the most 
 hated ; and if his importance could be demonstrated in no other 
 way, I think you might perhaps see it in his modest title, " His 
 Grace Henry Fitzallen Howard, Fifteenth Duke of Norfolk, Earl 
 of Arundel, Earl of Surrey, Earl of Norfolk, Baron Maltravers, 
 
26 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 Baron Fitzallen, Baron Clun, Baron Oswestry, Premier Duke and 
 Earl next to the Blood Royal, Hereditary Earl Marshal and Chief 
 Butler of England." The present duke is now thirty-eight years 
 old, almost a title for every year. The family is an illustrious one, 
 and it is said that the very first augmentation given by an English 
 king to a subject was one given to an early ancestor of this 
 
 Howard, Duke of Norfolk. 
 
 house, and which consisted of the arms of Edward the Confessor. 
 This never appears upon their shield at present, as through it much 
 grief and sorrow befell the family, but in the honorable quarter of 
 their shield, in the upper right hand, you will see an augmentation 
 which has given the name of the " Bleeding Lion of Surrey " to the 
 house. One of the ancient Howards, a certain Earl of Surrey, was a 
 knight much trusted and beloved of his sovereign. So dear was he to 
 
AUGMENTATIONS. 27 
 
 the king that when, in order to forever end the bitter discords that 
 existed between Scotland and England, the English Henry VII. 
 consented to give his own daughter Margaret, as bride to James the 
 Fourth of Scotland, he entrusted her safe carriage to the hands of 
 this same Earl of Surrey. But Henry VII. died, and with him 
 seemed to die all peace and concord between the nations. Henry 
 VIII. became England's master, and it is not hard to believe that 
 differences, as of old, arose between the rival kingdoms. These 
 quarrels became more violent as years passed by, and the young 
 Queen of France, whose country was hostile to England, fomented 
 the disturbance as best she might by flattering the handsome Scot- 
 tish monarch. She called herself his mistress and his lady-love, 
 and extracted from him a promise that for her sweet sake he would 
 march for three miles upon English ground. To seal the compact, 
 she drew a ring from her own white hand and sent it to him. Mean- 
 while, King Henry set off for France, on warlike purposes intent, 
 and James, remembering his pledge to the royal princess, and desir- 
 ous of revenging past grievances of his own, deemed it an excellent 
 opportunity in which to make incursions into his enemy's domains. 
 As a pretext, he remonstrated in peremptory terms with the Eng- 
 lish king for making this attack on France, and bade him abstain 
 from all aggressions against his ally, the monarch of the French. 
 Henry, surprised and indignant, flung back a menacing refusal, and 
 James, gathering his nobles together, invaded the English dominions. 
 Scotland had just begun to enjoy the unaccustomed comforts of 
 peace, and the clansmen were unwilling to again shake out the flag of 
 war. But so popular was the king that, though unwilling, they still 
 answered his call; and the Scottish army, with their arrows and 
 
28 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 their spears, were soon again " over the Border." James met with 
 great success. Fortress after fortress fell into his possession, and a 
 great mass of plunder was divided amongst the valiant moun- 
 taineers. But here, while on the full tide of success, the king 
 paused. His attention was temporarily diverted (a pair of bright 
 eyes, it is said, being the cause), and the English Earl of Surrey had 
 time to collect from all parts of England a formidable army of 
 twenty-six thousand men. As they marched northward, his army 
 was daily swollen by additions from the terrified northern counties. 
 As rapidly as the English army grew, so rapidly did the Scottish 
 army shrink, not because of lack of confidence in their king, but 
 because they had enlisted for only forty days, and had but a limited 
 supply of provision. These were already exhausted, the time for 
 which they had agreed to follow the king had expired ; and, anxious 
 to place their booty in the secure recesses of their Highlands, clan 
 after clan hurried from the army. The two armies finally met. 
 The earl, by wise manoeuvering, obtained the advantageous point 
 upon the field of battle. The contest was keen, the Scots fought 
 with bravery and that perfect disregard of life, always so characteris- 
 tic of their nation ; but the English troops easily surrounded them. 
 The division commanded by James, and which was composed of the 
 picked men of the entire arm} 7- , was engaged by the Earl of Surrey 
 in a bitter and unyielding struggle. Bows and arrows were flung 
 away, and the huge weapon known as a bill was used instead. 
 Gradually the sun sank and the shadows of night fell, but when 
 the stars came out they shone upon the dead body of the rash 
 monarch, pierced with many arrows. Around him lay bishops, 
 earls, lords, abbots, and nobles of every degree, while above them 
 
AUGMENTATIONS. 
 
 29 
 
 all the English banner waved in the cold night breeze. Great 
 was the satisfaction of the English king when the news of the 
 struggle — this famous battle of Flodden Field — reached him. He 
 could not bestow too much honor on the brilliant and sagacious 
 leader who had won the day, and he granted him permission to 
 place upon the bend that crossed his escutcheon the Tressure of 
 the Scottish shield, with the head of Scotland's lion in its centre 
 The lion's mouth is pierced with an arrow, to 
 indicate the way in which death met the king. 
 The duke himself, at the close of the battle, 
 gave to his retainers, as a badge to wear upon 
 their left arms, the white lion of his own ensign, 
 but trampling upon the scarlet lion of Scotland 
 and tearing it with its claws. This Blanche lion Surrey, 
 
 was brought into the Howard family by the marriage of Sir John 
 Howard to Lady Margaret Mowbray. Their son was the first 
 Duke of Norfolk, in 1493, and since that time the Blanche lion 
 has always appeared as the ensign of the family. 
 
 " For who in field or foray slack 
 Saw the Blanche Lion e'er fall back." 
 
 At Bosworth Field, where the king was slain, "Jockey of the 
 North," as one of the early Dukes of Norfolk was called, fell with 
 him. His younger son, the Earl of Surrey, met Talbot almost 
 immediately after the duke's death, and the old poem tells us : — 
 
 '.'. That now the earl beholds his father fall, 
 Whose death, like horrid darkness, frighted all, 
 Some gave themselves to capture, others fly, 
 But this young lion casts his generous eye 
 
30 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 On Mowbray's lion painted on his shield, 
 And with that king of beasts, repines to yield. 
 'The field,' saith he, ' in which the lion stands 
 Is blood, and blood I offer to the hands 
 Of daring foes ; but never shall my flight 
 Dye black my lion, which as yet is white.' " 
 
 You perhaps have noticed, in the list of titles belonging to the 
 Duke of Norfolk, that of Earl of Arundel. The arms of this family 
 were acquired by the Howards in a natural way, and with the title, 
 came also one of the most famous country-seats of all England, 
 Arundel Castle. There is an old rhyme that says: — 
 
 " Since William rose and Harold fell, 
 There have been Counts of Arundel, 
 And Earls old Arundel shall have 
 While rivers flow and forests wave." 
 
 This home of the old Arundels is now a favorite castle of the 
 Dukes of Norfolk, and lies but a few miles from Chichester. It was 
 here long years ago that William de Albini, of the Strong Hand, when 
 Avars or rumors of war did not happen to detain him elsewhere, 
 spent many happy hours with his wife, Adeliza, the widow of Henry 
 I., to whom the old castle belonged. Just after this fair young 
 widow had promised herself to him, there was a grand tournament 
 given in Paris, and he of the Strong Hand appeared in the lists. 
 So brilliantly did he acquit himself that "he caused the Queen 
 Dowager of France to fall in love with him, and to desire him in 
 marriage ! " Here was a most interesting predicament, to be sure, 
 in which the good knight found himself placed — a most unexpected 
 reward for knightly prowess. Engaged as he was to one royal 
 widow, was it possible for him to plight his troth to another? It 
 
AUGMENTATIONS. 31 
 
 is to be supposed that the English queen surpassed her French 
 rival in beauty, for the knight rejected all advances from the 
 dark-eyed Parisian queen, and bluntly declared that having already 
 given his faith to a lady in England he could not meet her wishes. 
 At this the black eyes darkened, and the pretty brows began to 
 scowl, and it was not long before, on one pretext or another, she 
 persuaded him to meet her in a grotto in the royal gardens. Here, 
 instead of her own fair ladyship to meet him, he found a famished 
 lion ; but as the beast sprang upon him, he fearlessly grasped him 
 by his mane, and, thrusting his arm into the lion's mouth, succeeded 
 in forcing his hand into the creature's very vitals, and from thence 
 dragged back through the astonished animal's gullet its own bleed- 
 ing heart. This done, it is pleasant to know that he succeeded in 
 once more reaching England, where he married his waiting bride. 
 In token of this surprising feat of arms (!) De Albini assumed as a 
 device for his shield the golden lion on a crimson shield. This is 
 the lion that you notice in the fourth quarter of the Duke of 
 Norfolk's shield, and which is known as the Fitzalan Lion. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DEBASEMENT OF KNIGHTS. — TOURNAMENTS. 
 
 Another shield on which you see an honorable augmentation 
 was one of earlier date. It was during the time that Robert 
 Bruce was the idol of his nation that this prized gift of a part of 
 the royal arms was given to a daring knight, who, at the risk of 
 his own life, rescued an imperilled sovereign. All day long the 
 battle of Methven had been raging, and late in 
 the afternoon the Bruce, seeing that where the 
 fighting was the most severe his men were begin- 
 ning to waver, spurred to rally them by his 
 magical presence. The ranks of the enemy closed 
 around him, and the dashing leader found him- 
 self most unexpectedly a captive. Loud were 
 the shouts of the victors, and in scornful derision they called 
 "Who will help the new-made king?" "I," was the fear- 
 less answer, and with a mighty effort Sir Christopher Seton 
 cut his way into their very midst, beating down the astounded 
 troopers on every side. He reached and seized his king, and, 
 repelling every effort to detain him, succeeded, though covered 
 with blood, in bringing him back in safety. Robert Bruce was 
 not one to forget so noble a deed of self-sacrifice, and he gave 
 him his own sister as wife. He also permitted the Scottish 
 Tressure to be placed upon his shield. The knight, now so 
 
 32 
 
 Seton. 
 
DEBASEMENT OF KNIGHTS. — TOUKNAMENTS. 
 
 33 
 
 closely connected by marriage with him, daily became more dear 
 to the Scottish king, and when the news of the cruel death of 
 " the good Sir Chrystal," in London, reached him, he was overcome 
 with sorrow. The tidings were brought him whilst riding through 
 the open country, near Dumfries; and upon a little hill overlook- 
 ing the spot where the messenger delivered his melancholy news 
 he ordered a little chapel to be built. He also founded a 
 priory, the monks of which were to offer every day a prayer for the 
 soul of the departed knight. The augmentation can now be 
 seen on the arms of the Setone of Abercorn. 
 
 Occasionally, a woman, even in those days, brought glory to 
 her father's name, as in the case of Jane Lane, of Staffordshire. 
 She is connected with the fortunes of poor Charles the Second. 
 This prince, during the course of his chequered career, had now 
 and then an opportunity when he could, without stretching the 
 point too much, bestow a favor upon a loyal subject. One such 
 arose when, hopelessly defeated in the fight at Worcester, he 
 took refuge with a family of Lanes in the neighborhood of the 
 battle-field, whose hearts beat loyally for the luckless king. A 
 lady of this family, whose name was Jane, pitied his forlorn 
 condition, and offered to conduct him to Bristol, from whence he 
 could without much difficulty find his way to the seaboard, and 
 thence set sail for France. This daring proposition the king, 
 after some hesitation, accepted. Staining his face with walnut 
 juice, and with his hair already cropped short, he was, to a very 
 great extent, successfully disguised, but the plucky dame had a 
 suggestion or two still to make as she unfolded her plan of proceed- 
 ings to him. He was to assume the coarse dress of an ordinary 
 
34 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 yeoman, and as her attendant accompany her on horseback to 
 Bristol, where she announced it as her intention to pay a visit 
 to some old friends. Thus dressed, and mounted upon hardy 
 ponies, they started on their perilous trip. Many a moment of 
 sudden terror, when the heart leaped to the throat, and the pulse 
 stood still, did they have. An unusual stir in the hedgerow, 
 an unwelcome meeting with wayside passengers, a question 
 asked and the necessity of a natural and ready answer, the need 
 of a perfect control over their features at all times, a careless 
 loitering along the roads under a possible scrutiny, and a flying 
 like the very winds when certain of seclusion — surely the loyal 
 heroism of such a daring heart deserved a kingly recompense ! 
 At one time the king's mare cast a shoe, and they were forced to 
 stop at a village blacksmith's to have the animal reshod. As 
 the king stood by his horse he nonchalantly asked what news 
 there was. " Ah," said the smith, " none that I know of, save 
 the good news of beating those rogues the Scots." The king 
 then inquired if none of the English who had joined the Scots 
 had been taken. " Some few, some few," was the answer, 
 "but I don't hear that rogue Charles Stewart has been taken 
 yet." The king was mounting his horse at this moment, and as 
 he rode off, remarked that if that rogue were but taken he 
 deserved hanging more than all the rest. " Sure enough," 
 echoed the stalwart smith, "you speak like an honest man!" 
 Arrived at the house of the friend, to visit whom had been the 
 pretext of the journey, Jane hurried her companion into his bed- 
 room saying that he was "a neighbor's son, whom his father 
 had permitted to ride before her in hopes that he might be the 
 
DEBASEMENT OF KNIGHTS. 
 
 TOURNAMENTS. 
 
 35 
 
 sooner relieved from a quartain ague, with which he had been 
 sorely afflicted, and from which he was not yet free." A physician 
 unfortunately happened to be staying in the house and with 
 merciful intent he slipped quietly up to the room of the suffering 
 youth, hoping to be able to relieve the difficulty. The king 
 spied him as he entered the room, and in an instant was under 
 the curtains of the bed, so that when the good doctor approached 
 to feel his pulse, the king lay completely in shadow. Drawing 
 a chair beside the bed, he asked the patient many questions, 
 and then, in perfect ignorance of the identity of the visitor, 
 descended to the parlor to tell Miss Lane what he had done, 
 and to give her an encouraging report of the invalid's condition. 
 He also advised her as to what remedies she should use if 
 another attack appeared. 'Twas evidently best for the king 
 to leave as soon as possible, and this, with many thanks for her 
 kind protection, he did. By a circuitous route he finally suc- 
 ceeded in reaching the English Channel, and passage was secured 
 for him in a vessel bound for France. When once again rein- 
 stated in the royal palace in England, he did not forget the 
 devotion of Miss Lane. Amongst many other benefits conferred 
 upon her was the right to bear the arms of England in one 
 corner of her family shield, and with it a motto and crest, the 
 crest being the head of a bay horse, with the royal crown between 
 his forelegs. 
 
 Such were some of the varied rewards given to loyal and 
 brave knights by the monarchs whom they served. But there 
 is another side to this pleasing picture. What if a knight 
 should prove a miscreant, should be guilty of treason, should 
 
36 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 refuse quarter to an enemy who cried for mercy, or be guilty of 
 other foul and unknightly deeds? Then, oh woe worth the day! 
 with his plighted faith broken, and his honor forfeited, the 
 unlucky wight was placed upon a raised platform in full view of 
 all spectators. There he was stripped of all his knightly armor, 
 which was then broken to pieces before his very eyes and 
 thrown a ringing mass at his feet; all but his spurs and shield. 
 The spurs were cast upon a dunghill ; and the shield, fastened to 
 the croup of an old worn-out cart-horse, was dragged in the dust 
 through the thoroughfares of the town. Even his guiltless 
 charger had to suffer in the ignominy of his master, and this he 
 did by having his tail cut off. At this point the herald-alarms 
 called thrice, in stentorian tones, " Who is there ? " Three times 
 the name of the degraded knight was given in answer, and the 
 herald-at-arms then exclaimed, " No, it is not so , I see no knight 
 here ; I see only a coward, who has been false to his plighted 
 faith ! " As he said this, the former knight was dragged from the 
 platform to the ground, placed on a litter, and carried as dead 
 to the nearest church, where he was obliged to listen to the 
 burial service for the dead, as it was read over him. He, having 
 now quite lost his honor, was regarded henceforth amongst 
 knights as only a corpse. Such a ceremony very rarely occurred, 
 but occasionally a knight has been degraded. Some years ago 
 the banner of one of the knights of Bath was torn down from 
 its proud place with the others of his order, hanging in the 
 Chapel of Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey, and kicked into 
 the street. The knight was named Sir Francis Michel, and, 
 having been found guilty of sundry unknightly practices, was 
 
DEBASEMENT OP KNIGHTS. — TOURNAMENTS. 37 
 
 sentenced to a " degradation of honor." He was therefore brought 
 by the Sheriff of London to Westminster Hall, and there, in the 
 presence of the high officers of the College of Arms, the sentence 
 passed by Parliament upon him was read. The lesser officials 
 of the college then hacked off his spurs, took his sword from 
 him, and, raising it high above his head, snapped it in twain, 
 and threw the broken pieces in different directions from him. 
 Then the First Commissioner proclaimed with uplifted voice 
 that "he was no longer knight, but a scoundrel knave." 
 
 In the time of George the First, one of the great Dukes of 
 Ormond was, after receiving many honors, attainted of treason, 
 and the ceremony of degrading him from his position took place 
 at Windsor Castle. These rare but notable punishments, falling 
 upon unworthy knights, served to keep the standard of knightly 
 duty high, and the prominence of the degradation as given, by 
 its infrequency, intensified the impression received by the be- 
 holders. It is said that in early days a penalty was attached to 
 all such knights whose arms having been disgraced, ventured to 
 present themselves at the lists seeking admission. They were 
 seized and set astride, not of a gayly caparisoned steed, but on 
 the barrier fence that surrounded the field, and from this circum- 
 stance arose the expression of "riding a fellow on a rail." 
 
 These were the gala days of tournaments and jousts, as well 
 as the bloody ones of war. All literary ambitions were confined 
 to the monastic orders, and, few nobles being able to either read 
 or write, the ambition of every chivalrous soul was to build up a 
 name for himself, or to increase his fortunes, in battle or on 
 the tournament field. When wars were lacking, tournaments 
 
38 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 and jousts were instituted by the sovereign as a means by which 
 the martial skill of faithful servitors was kept from deteriorating, 
 and, although personal rancor occasionally gave a sharper edge to 
 the blades of the contestants, still the tilts and jousts were usually 
 made in a friendly spirit, and were regarded chiefly as oppor- 
 tunities in which to display superior military talents and thereby 
 win additional renown. In Germany, where the tournament first 
 originated, the early history of this pastime shows that it was 
 not then the usually harmless, entertaining display of feats of 
 bravery that it became in later years, especially in France. The 
 Germans were a warlike nation, and their men of iron, really 
 almost barbarians, met in the tournament simply to measure their 
 savage strength, and in the violent shocks with which they met 
 each other, and in the headlong manner in which each strove to 
 prove his claim to superior skill and force, many a knight was dashed 
 from his horse and hewn or trampled to death. At one tourna- 
 ment alone, no less than sixty combatants are believed to have 
 bitten the dust. But in more courtly days the tournament broke 
 in most acceptably upon the tedious days of peace, and heralds 
 frequently passed from country to country, announcing the 
 approach of jousts about to be given, and inviting all ambitious 
 knights to present themselves at the proper time. The tourna- 
 ment is not quite the same as a tilt or joust. The latter were 
 simply single hand-to-hand combats, but a tournament might 
 comprise them all. It could also include what is called a passage- 
 at-arms, where the attack and defence of a narrow path or. 
 military position was simulated. 
 
 At these tournaments it was optional with the knights them- 
 
DEBASEMENT OF KNIGHTS. — TOURNAMENTS. 
 
 39 
 
 selves whether the conflict should be one where death alone 
 separated the combatants, or whether it should be simply a dis- 
 play of knightly skill. Was it to be of the more severe form, 
 then the knights touched the shields of those with whom they 
 wished to fight with the point of their lance, otherwise only with 
 the handle. In this latter case blunt-pointed instruments were 
 provided, but even then occasionally death ensued. At first these 
 pastimes were held in .the open field, but afterwards lists or 
 barriers were put up, and the space enclosed was limited to about 
 sixty paces one way and forty the other. The ground was levelled 
 and made as perfect as possible for the manoeuvres of the knights. 
 Two doors were placed in the barriers, one in the east, and one 
 in the west, and barred to the height of seven feet, or more, so 
 that a horse would be unable to leap over them. Four days 
 before the tournament was to take place, the arms of the knights 
 who wished to take part, and whose right to do so had been 
 thorbughly investigated by the herald, were displayed in the 
 lists. Should any lady, as she passed from one to the other, find 
 the arms of a knight who, for a good reason, she deemed unworthy 
 to appear, she had but to whisper the fact in the ear of All Au- 
 thority, and the knight was bidden to remove his arms. Each 
 champion had his own pavilion, oftentimes most gorgeous in 
 color, and upon it were placed his arms, his banner, and his ban- 
 deroles, so that the lists must have presented a most brilliant 
 spectacle. The scaffolding and raised seats prepared for the 
 ladies and nobles were rich in hanging tapestries and embroid- 
 ered clothes of gold and silver, whilst in the most conspicuous 
 place was a canopied dais, intended for the occupancy of the 
 
40 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 sovereign and his court, or of some beautiful peeress, styled the 
 Queen of Beauty. The splendor of the occasion was increased 
 by the dress of the heralds, whose tabards, or surcoats, were 
 always rich in color and decoration. So dazzling was the sheen 
 of the helmeted knights, so brilliant the gay trappings of their 
 chargers, and so stirring the sound of the trumpets, and the sight 
 of the waving pennons, why, I should not wonder, children, if 
 even your republican principles would, by a most inexcusable weak- 
 ening, have made their owners infamous on such an occasion. 
 But even if you failed to admire so much sparkle and beauty, I 
 am afraid you could not have resisted a smothered laugh at the 
 appearance the horses presented. The knights themselves were 
 well protected by their chain or plated armor, but how about 
 their steeds? They must be shielded in some way; so when not 
 covered with steel, — and very naturally armor made their 
 movements clumsy and difficult, — their flanks were covered with 
 great bundles of hay or straw, tied together and fastened to the 
 pommel. To protect their breasts, monstrous crescent-shaped 
 bags were filled with straw and placed so as to dangle from the 
 horses' necks. Over these most splendidly embroidered housings or 
 trappings were thrown to conceal the paddings ; but even with such 
 ornamental mantles the poor beasts must have presented a strangely 
 developed aspect, as, with their riders on their backs, they half 
 waddled, half pranced into the arena. The knights themselves 
 looked little better, for their helmets alone are said to have often 
 weighed sixteen pounds, but the martially educated boys of 
 that age failed to see anything but grandeur in the scene, and 
 those of you that would not have laughed at it would perhaps 
 
DEBASEMENT OF KNIGHTS. — TOURNAMENTS. 41 
 
 have felt as young Bayard did, that young chevalier, sans peur 
 et sans reproche. This famous knight, when only about sixteen, 
 felt his heart glow within him at the news of an approaching tour- 
 nament which was to take place near the castle of his patron, 
 in whose family he was being trained for the knightly career he 
 had chosen. He longed to be one of the contestants, and all 
 dissuasion served but to heighten the desire. Aided by a 
 friend, he succeeded in coaxing a close-fisted old uncle of an 
 abbot into equipping him properly for the tournament, and then, 
 stepping boldly into the lists, he touched the shield of the 
 oldest and best-known knight on the field. In this encounter he 
 acquitted himself so -well that he astonished all spectators, and 
 drew forth the admiration of the very king himself, who hap- 
 pened to be present. After the tournaments had closed with a 
 " lances aux dames," and after resting and refreshing themselves, 
 the knights joined the gay company of nobles and ladies who 
 had been spectators during the day, at a grand entertainment, 
 and there, after feasting and dancing, the prizes for the greatest 
 feats of valor were presented to the fortunate knights, either 
 by the Queen of Beauty, or by other fair ladies of the court. 
 Tournaments were usually given by sovereigns upon the occasion 
 of a royal wedding, or at the birth of a long-looked-for heir, but 
 could be given by nobles, and for various causes. In England, 
 tournaments were conducted upon a scale of great magnificence, 
 but the site usually selected for such displays was one the name 
 of which will hardly suggest a gorgeous pageant; and yet the 
 noble Queen of England, as well as the members of her royal 
 family, and the highest peers of her realm, owe much of their 
 
42 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 stately presence, if not their very existence, to this spot ! Per- 
 haps some of you have visited London already, and have walked 
 through the enormous markets which cover the once famous 
 Smithfield. Long years ago this field was dedicated to the pas- 
 times of the day, and in later years many a heroic soul has there 
 received a martyr's crown, forged in the flames of the burning 
 stake. 
 
 In England many gorgeous tournaments were held, and during 
 the reign of one of the Edwards, one was given by the king that 
 lasted not less than fifteen days; as for Queen Bess, she fairly 
 intoxicated such of her fortunate subjects as were able to look 
 upon the novel scene, by holding one during the evening, when 
 torchlight was required to take the place of the glare of the mid- 
 day sun. Her Majesty's grounds surrounding the Palace of West- 
 minster, was the spot selected for the tournament, and to it came 
 the Earl of Essex "with twelve knights, all clad in satin white as 
 snow. After him entered, as his opponent, the Earl of Rutland, 
 followed by twelve of his retainers, dressed in blue. Another 
 great tournament was held in London by order of the king, where 
 this time sixty knights were present, accompanied by sixty noble 
 ladies. The tilting was to last two days, and upon the first day 
 selected, it must have been a pretty sight to behold these sixty 
 knights, attached by silver chains to the palfreys of their fair 
 escorts, issuing forth from the Tower of London, and parading 
 through Cheapside to the lists in Smithfield. The tilting was to 
 be with blunt lances, and the prizes offered were a rich crown of 
 gold and a massive golden clasp. These were the prizes offered 
 for the knights ; those offered for the squires, who were to tilt 
 
DEBASEMENT OF KNIGHTS. — TOURNAMENTS. 43 
 
 upon the second day, were to be a courser saddled and bridled, 
 and a falcon. Heralds had been sent before to proclaim this 
 tournament in England, Scotland, Hainault, Germany, Flanders, 
 and France, and I know not how many other countries. As the 
 result, many were the knights who appeared before the lists. At 
 the close of each day's tilting, a grand supper was given by the 
 king to all the knights, and dancing made the nights merry. 
 Finally, when the tournament was ended, the king invited his 
 foreign guests to the royal castle at Windsor, and there enter- 
 tained them with great magnificence. In an old romance of 
 Richard Cceur de Lion, the king is represented as being desirous 
 to ascertain who were the bravest knights in his dominion. For 
 this purpose a tournament was proclaimed, but only English 
 knights were invited to participate. Unknown to all, Richard 
 determined to enter the lists himself, and gain the knowledge he 
 wished by personal experience. Therefore, three times, in different 
 disguises, he challenged certain of the knights who seemed to 
 possess the greatest amount of military address. The armor 
 assumed in his first adventure was black, so was his horse, and 
 the device chosen by him was a raven with his beak open, as if 
 weary from a long flight, and had a bell suspended from its neck. 
 The bird represented patient endurance, and the Church, which it 
 was the highest duty of chivalry to protect, was symbolized by the 
 bell. He next appeared in red armor, and rode upon a bay horse, 
 and this time his device was a red hound, with his tail trailing 
 on the ground. This showed his wrath against the "Paynim 
 hounds" who profaned the Holy Land. In his third appearance 
 he was mounted on a snow-white charger, his armor also was 
 
44 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 white, and a red cross appeared on his right shoulder ; the crest 
 of his helmet was a dove, the well known symbol of the Holy- 
 Ghost. How he succeeded in his first joust we are not told ; but 
 "in his second disguise the king attacked Sir Thomas De Moulton, 
 who, provoked by his repeated assaults, dealt him so desperate 
 a blow that Richard thought it prudent to retire quickly to the 
 wood." In his third enterprise he encountered a knight who proved 
 himself to be one of equal prowess with himself. When the tour- 
 nament was ended, the king disclosed himself to these knights, 
 explaining the motive that had prompted him to enter the lists, 
 and desired the nobles to bind themselves by a solemn oath to 
 be his true and faithful brothers-in-arms, and to accompany him 
 on a secret expedition to Palestine. In Scotland the spot usually 
 selected for these military sports was under the Castle Rock at 
 Stirling. The king, as well as his nobles, frequently took part 
 in the game. A high rock overlooking the lists is even now 
 styled ' Ladies' Rock,' it being the place where, dressed in gala 
 attire, the ladies of the court sat to view the proceedings. But 
 the tournament which, of all others, probably threw the greatest 
 glamour of romance about this popular pastime, is that about which 
 so much has been written and sung — the Field of the Cloth-of- 
 Gold. This was the outgrowth of an idea of Cardinal Wolsey 
 then at the very height of his power, who hoped by means of this 
 to accomplish a political end he had in view. He was extremely 
 desirous that Henry the Eighth of England and the courtly 
 Francis the First of France should meet and discuss certain 
 matters of much importance. To do this he planned a tour- 
 nament, to be held near the little town of Guisne in France. 
 
DEBASEMENT OF KNIGHTS. — TOURNAMENTS. 45 
 
 Both monarchs approving of the project, invitations were sent 
 out through the length and breadth of Europe. The very 
 flower of all European nobility took part. No less than twenty- 
 eight hundred tents were put up for the use of such spectators 
 as came from England alone ; but even this protection, in addi- 
 tion to that which the small town, then belonging to England, 
 afforded the visitors, such multitudes flocked thither, not only 
 of barons, knights, and squires, but citizens, peasants, Jews, 
 pedlers, and rogues, that they considered themselves fortunate 
 if but a bundle of straw could be secured, on which to lay 
 their heads. Many of the courtiers, so we are told, who accom- 
 panied the sovereigns, endeavored to rival their masters in 
 sumptuous equipments. To such an extent did they carry their 
 efforts "that many bore thither their mills, their forests, and 
 their meadows on their backs," fairly impoverishing themselves 
 by their desire to shine beyond all others at the great pageant. 
 The lordly pavilion occupied by King Henry was one of Oriental 
 magnificence. In its construction he employed nearly a hun- 
 dred of the most skilful workmen from Flanders and Holland. 
 It was built of wood, a hundred and twenty-eight feet square, 
 with an entrance gate on one side, in front of which was a 
 superbly gilded fountain, surmounted by a statue of Bacchus. 
 From various pipes at its base issued forth all kinds of wine. 
 Its motto, written in letters of gold, was, "Make good cheer 
 who will." On the other side of the entrance was a column 
 supported by four lions, and on its apex was a flying Cupid 
 armed with bows and arrows. Then in front of the palace 
 was a monstrous figure of a savage, wearing the arms of his 
 
46 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 race, and carrying the blunt motto chosen by Henry the Eighth : 
 " He whom I back wins." The inside of this pavilion was hung 
 with tapestry of the very richest design, and the mass of silken 
 and jewelled embroidery used as additional decoration made it 
 gorgeous in the extreme. 
 
 Francis the First erected a tent whose outside was hung with 
 cloth-of-gold, this giving the name to the tournament. Inside it 
 represented a sphere, with a ground of blue velvet, studded with 
 stars like the nightly firmament. At each angle of this pavilion 
 was a similar, though smaller one, also richly decorated. As to the 
 ladies who brought their beauty to the scene, one worthy old chron- 
 icler, after a long and wearisome description of the daily tilts, de- 
 clares that "to tell the apparel of the ladies, their rich attire, their 
 sumptuous jewels, their varied beauties, and their goodly behavior 
 from day to day since the first meeting — I assure you ten men's 
 wits can scarce declare it." 
 
 Amongst those present was one whose name is more closely asso- 
 ciated with the glories of the tournament, as well as with brilliant ex- 
 ploits upon the battle-field, than is that of any other — the renowned 
 Bayard. Not only was he one of the most prominent knights at the 
 Field of the Cloth-of-Gold, but he seems to have shone conspicu- 
 ously at almost all the noted European jousts. Quite a pretty tale 
 is told of him when stationed at Carignon, a little town in Northern 
 Italy. While quite young, he met, in a house of one of his knightly 
 patrons, a young girl to whom he became deeply attached, and 
 would probably have married. Circumstances, however, in that ill 
 bred way in which they often behave, interfered , and the young 
 knight was sent, under the leadership of another noble, to carry on 
 
DEBASEMENT OP KNIGHTS. — TOURNAMENTS. 
 
 47 
 
 war in distant countries. As for the young damsel, she had to con- 
 tent herself with marrying a certain Lord de Frusasco. A happy 
 enough arrangement this seems to have been for her, for, like most 
 young girls, she had a capacious heart, and proved herself a loving, 
 faithful wife. Some years later, when the name of the good Cheva- 
 lier was so well known that even in Spain, hostile as that country 
 was to France, there had grown up this proverb, "Muchos grisones, 
 pocos Bayardos," — in literal English, " Many grays, but few bays," 
 or "Many mules, but few horses," — he chanced to be in Carignon, 
 and was entertained at the castle of his former patron, Duke Charles 
 of Savoy. This noble was now married, and the Lady de Frusasco, 
 with her husband, formed a part of his household. Greatly delighted 
 was this fair dame to meet again her former sweetheart, and loudly 
 did she sing the praises of his marvellous knightly skill, displayed 
 by him even when he was but a stripling. One day, finding herself 
 alone with Bayard, he expressed to her his earnest wish to repay in 
 some degree the courtesy of his host. To this she replied, " To my 
 thinking, Monsieur de Bayard, if it be not distasteful to thee, it 
 would give great pleasure wert thou to hold a tournament in this 
 town in honor of Madame, who has shown thee so much favor. 
 Thou wilt have many competitors among the French garrisons and 
 the nobles of this place, who would all hear of it with pleasure." 
 " Truly," said the Chevalier, " as thou so thinkest it shall be done. 
 Thou art the first woman who ever enslaved my heart by means of 
 thy many graces, and I entreat the favor of thee, to give me one of 
 thy sleeves, the which I covet much for certain reasons." This the 
 lady immediately gave, little dreaming what he wished to do with it. 
 He took it, and " silently drew it up over the sleeve of his doublet." 
 
48 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 And, children, as you may be wondering by what sort of a hocus- 
 pocus trick it was that the obliging lady was able so quickly and 
 deftly to rip out her natty little sleeve, and surmise that she must 
 have felt remarkably queer, goose-flesh creeping all over her 
 denuded arm, I will tell you that this sleeve of hers was no sleeve 
 at all, only a fingerless sort of a gauntlet that extended to her elbow. 
 That night the good Chevalier slept but little — as, however, all ac- 
 counts agree in declaring this to be his ordinary habit, we need not 
 attribute the fault of it to his possession of the innocent little 
 sleeve. In the morning, trumpeters were sent to all the neighboring 
 towns where there were garrisons, to invite all gentlemen to the 
 tournament that the Chevalier Bayard would hold, four days from 
 that time, at Carignon ; the prize would be his lady's sleeve, from 
 which should be suspended a ruby worth a hundred ducats. This 
 reward was to be gained by the winner of three courses with the 
 lance without a barrier, and twelve sweeps of the sword. The 
 heralds returned with fifteen written promises from knights, and 
 immediately the Lady Blanche, wife of the noble Duke of Savoy, 
 had the tribune put up and covered with elegant decorations in the 
 tilt-yard. On the day appointed, soon after mid-day, the tourna- 
 ment began, and then we learn from that old story-teller, the Loyal 
 Serviteur, that " firstly came forward the good Chevalier, and against 
 him strode the Lord de Rouastre, a valiant gentleman, who bore the 
 ensign of Duke Philip of Savoy, — a brave and expert knight, who 
 gave a mighty thrust, shivering his lance in divers pieces. But the 
 good Chevalier dealt in return so great a blow upon his helm that he 
 disarmed him, making him see the day while his lance flew in shiv- 
 ers. The said Lord de Rouastre, straightening his helm, prepared 
 
DEBASEMENT OF KNIGHTS. — TOURNAMENTS. 49 
 
 him for his second lance course, at which he did disport himself with 
 even more skill than at first; but the good Chevalier with such vio- 
 lence assailed the visor of this lord, that crest and plumage were 
 carried away upon his lance-point, causing him to reel in the saddle,, 
 without unseating him. At the third lance the Lord de Rouastre 
 raised his adroitly, while that of Bayard was broken into many 
 pieces, the which was greeted with much applause. After him, 
 there came Montdragon and the Lord de Chevron, who right well 
 ran their course and were admired of all. Two others followed, and 
 so on, each in turn, and all doing so well as greatly to please all 
 present. The encounters with the lances over, those with the 
 swords began. But the good Chevalier Bayard at the second sent that 
 of his adversary flying, breaking at the same time his own. Succes- 
 sively the others took their turns. All were declared to have done 
 nobly, and the tournament closed with the day. At the entertain- 
 ment that followed in the evening it was declared, with much clamor 
 of trumpets and hautboys, that the prize belonged to the good Chev- 
 alier. Blushingly, however, he refused it, saying that it was through 
 an error that they attributed this honor unto him, it .being due alone 
 to the Lady de Frusasco, who had condescended to lend to him her 
 sleeve, and it was for her now to present it to whomsoever she thought 
 fit. The lady accepted this gallantry with her accustomed grace, 
 and thanked the good Chevalier for all the honor he had done her. 
 " Since you tell me my Lord of Bayard says it is through my poor 
 sleeve that he has won, I will, for his sake, and for a testimony of 
 the love I bear him, treasure it unto my dying day. But as to the 
 ruby, seeing he will not accept of it, I think it should be given to 
 the Lord Montdragon, who after him numbered most votes." The 
 
50 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 ruby was then thus given, and the decision generally approved, and 
 Lady Blanche felt pleasure in having helped in the nurture of one 
 so generally esteemed as was the good Chevalier. The prizes given, 
 dancing commenced, which lasted till after midnight, when the fes- 
 tivities were brought to a close." 
 
 So common were tournaments as one of the celebrations following 
 a royal wedding, that when Henry the Fifth of England was asked 
 on his wedding day at what time the jousts in honor of this event 
 were to take place, great were the surprise and disappointment of 
 his court when he answered very quietly, "To-morrow morning I 
 am going to the Siege of Sens, and any one who likes jousting in 
 earnest may come with me and he shall be satisfied." 
 
 But gunpowder was invented, and armor necessarily was aban- 
 doned ; interest in letters began to increase, and, the expense attend- 
 ing the preparation for these tournaments also becoming greater, 
 the interest in this pastime gradually diminished. Another death- 
 blow given to these pageants occurred when in two or three in- 
 stances the royal blood itself was shed, and the throne of the 
 monarch was made vacant. King Henry the Second, who bore the 
 crescent badge of Diana of Poitiers, fell by the unlucky thrust of 
 the lance of Montgomery, and later on, at a tournament at Orleans, 
 in 1561, one of the great House of Montpensier, Prince de Beau- 
 preau, of the blood royal, was also killed. From this time tourna- 
 ments ceased to be an expected event of the year. An effort was 
 made not long ago, however, to revive it as a means of entertain- 
 ment in England. Invitations were sent out, accordingly, through- 
 out all Great Britain ; and though considerable unwillingness was 
 expressed by many of the nobles to attempt a display of military 
 skill, which they were conscious of wholly lacking, still quite 
 
DEBASEMENT OP KNIGHTS. — TOURNAMENTS. 51 
 
 a number finally consented to attend. The requisite costumes, 
 at great expense, were purchased, the knights practised as best they 
 could with their fencing masters, the Queen of Beauty was selected, 
 the site was chosen, the lists put up, and the day was set. In olden 
 days the weather seems always to have been propitious, at all events 
 nothing is said about its ever raining at such a time, though a tent 
 was occasionally blown down ; but upon this occasion, when the 
 time appointed arrived, England's climate favored the knightly 
 adventurers with a drizzling rain. The spectators, nothing daunted, 
 began to assemble, and finally the lists were crowded with lookers- 
 on, weather-proof in galoches and umbrellas. But such an ungainly 
 appearance did they present, so inharmonious with the olden spirit 
 of the chivalrous pastime, that an order was given to "Rest arms" — 
 in other words, umbrellas were not to be tolerated. It was now the 
 time for the Queen of Beauty to take her proper place, but the 
 rain, which had been drizzling, had become a steady pour. Her 
 gilded coach, drawn by four white steeds, went empty along the 
 street, whilst its intended occupant, in a hired hack, made her way, 
 as best she could, to the protected dais erected for her. The knights 
 began to assemble, the herald gave the call for entrance, and at this 
 auspicious moment the slight awning that protected the stand where 
 sat the peers with their ladies, elegant in rainbow-tinted finery, was 
 blown by the violence of the storm, no one could tell whither. Still 
 the knights pressed on ; but the arena was found to be a foot deep 
 with sticky mud ; the dancing pavilion was reported as being under 
 water ; and altogether, with feathers draggled, the costly court-robes 
 ruined, tempers ruffled, and doubtless big bills for the doctor, not 
 to say dress-maker's and tailor's still unsettled, the ghost of the 
 tournament vanished forever. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 WHAT HERALDRY MEANS. — COLLEGE OF ARMS. 
 
 And now that we have learned so much about the gay doings 
 that went on when heraldry was at the very pinnacle of its glory, 
 do you not think it would be a good idea to try to find out 
 what the word "heraldry" means? If the big brother were here 
 I dare say he would answer our question directly, by saying that it 
 was what heralds did, or something akin to that, but do you suppose 
 he could be clever enough to tell us what "herald" means, not what 
 the duties of a herald were, but the true signification of the 
 name ? Clever or not, however, he is not here, and so I shall 
 ask those of you who have scraped up a sort of bowing acquaint- 
 ance with the "Sprechen Sie Deutch" language, to remem- 
 ber that there is a word in this mellifluous tongue which is the 
 equivalent of our "army," the word, "Heer," and from this comes 
 our word "herald," one who carried messages of war or peace 
 between sovereigns and armies. After a while the duties of heralds 
 became much more complicated and onerous. They took part in all 
 royal ceremonies, such as marriages, baptisms, funerals, and, with 
 much e*clat, at the coronations; they were also sent with invi- 
 tations to tournaments, thus taking journeys that occupied many 
 weeks. At these tournaments it was their duty to blazon, or 
 " blasen," the arrival of the various knights ; in other words, to tell 
 their names and the countries from whence they came, describe 
 
 52 
 
WHAT HERALDRY MEANS. 
 
 53 
 
 their insignia, and examine into the right of each to appear within 
 the lists. The word " Blasen " also comes from " Der Vaterland," 
 and it — yes, yes, I hear you, you say it means "to blow," to blow 
 with a trumpet. The heralds blew their trumpets to draw attention 
 to the description they were about to give of some approaching 
 knight, and so I, though having no trumpet with which to blow, 
 still if you should wish me to describe any of Polly's little treas- 
 ures, should be compelled to " blazon them " for you, the heraldic 
 term for giving a description. In those early days even the com- 
 monest of the people knew the language of the herald, and when, 
 in a few words, he described a very elaborately decorated shield, they 
 understood precisely what was meant, and very much better, I can 
 assure you, than you, with all your French and German erudition, 
 could possibly understand me. 
 
 Here is a very well known coat-of-arms, and an extremely beauti- 
 ful one also. It is quarterly 1st and 4th gyronny 
 of 8, or and sable, for Campbell, 2d and 3d 
 argent a lymphad sable proper for the lordship 
 of Lome, crest, a boar's head fesswise erased or, 
 armed argent, langued gules ; supporters, two 
 lions guardant gules; motto, "Ne obliviscaris." 
 Now tell me, have you any idea how this shield 
 is decorated? Yet it is the familiar one of the Duke of Argyle, 
 the great Mac Calam More. 
 
 In Germany, when a knight appeared for the first time before the 
 lists and had his right to bear arms carefully examined by heralds, 
 he was allowed to place two horns upon his helmet, one rising 
 on either side of the crest. After this he was never again sub- 
 
 Campbell, Duke of 
 Argyle. 
 
54 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 jected to such an ordeal. But, as the 
 French say in regard to the pictures of 
 certain artists exhibited in the yearly Salon 
 at Paris, they were "hors de concours." 
 Such crests are rare, but are very much 
 prized in Germany, as they prove an ex- 
 ceedingly ancient and honorable lineage. 
 
 Before the King of England was the 
 powerful monarch that, by subduing the 
 haughty nobles to the level of submissive 
 subjects, he afterwards became, heralds 
 were as natural adjuncts to the courts of 
 those old feudal barons as they were to 
 the court of the king himself. Heralds 
 and pursuivants were also considered quite 
 as much an ornament as a necessity by 
 these nobles, and 
 were expected to 
 be the first of 
 their households 
 to greet the arri- 
 val of illustrious 
 
 guests. Sir Walter Scott describes the reception given to Lord 
 Marmion at Norham Keep : — 
 
 " Two pursuivants, whom tabards deck, 
 With silver scutcheons round their neck, 
 
 Stood on the steps of stone 
 By which you reach the dungeon gate, 
 And there, with herald pomp and state, 
 They hailed Lord Marmion. 
 
 Horns. 
 
WHAT HERALDRY MEANS. 55 
 
 They hailed him Lord of Fontenaye, 
 Of Lutterward and Scrivelbaye ! 
 
 Of Tamworth Tower and town; 
 And he, their courtesy to requite, 
 Gave them a chain of twelve marks' weight, 
 
 All as he lighted down. 
 Now, largesse, largesse, Lord Marmion! 
 Knight of the crest of gold ; 
 
 A blazoned shield in battle won 
 Ne'er guarded heart so bold." 
 
 Lord Marmion then fulfilled the duty that was expected of all 
 knights under such circumstances, "and scattered angels round." 
 At another time when a mission was sent by James the Fourth to 
 greet Marmion on his entering Scotland, it was led, as was usual 
 under such circumstances, by the King-at-arms, Lord Lyon. 
 
 " First came the trumpets, at whose clang 
 So late the forest echoes rang ; 
 On prancing steeds they forward prest, 
 With scarlet mantle, azure vest; 
 Each at his trump a banner wore, 
 Which Scotland's royal scutcheon bore; 
 Heralds and pursuivants, by name 
 Bute, Islay, Marchmont, Rothsay, came, 
 In painted tabards proudly showing 
 Gules, argent, or, and azure glowing, 
 
 Attendant on a king-at-arms, 
 Whose hand the armorial truncheon held 
 That feudal strife had often quelled, 
 When wildest its alarms. 
 
 From his steed's shoulder, loin, and breast, 
 Silk housings swept the ground, 
 
 With Scotland's arms, device, and crest, 
 Embroidered round and round. 
 
56 DAME HEKALDKY. 
 
 The double-tressure might you see 
 
 First by Achaius borne, 
 The thistle, and the fleur-de-lys, 
 
 And gallant unicorn. 
 So bright the king's armorial coat, 
 That scarce the dazzled eye could note, 
 In living colors blazoned brave, 
 The Lyon, which his title gave. 
 
 Sir David Lindesay of the Mount, 
 Lord Lyon, King-at-arms." 
 
 The pursuivant belonging to these noble houses usually bore as 
 his official name that of some device taken either from the coat-of- 
 arms or the badge of his master. The Duke of Northumberland, 
 the House of Percy, gave to theirs the name of " Esperance," taken 
 from their motto, " Esperance en Dieu." The pursuivant belonging 
 to the Duke of Norfolk was called " Blanche Lion," from a device 
 always used by that house as their badge. As the right to bear 
 arms came to be vested in the hands of the sovereign alone, and 
 what is styled " Herald's College " was formed, the nobles were for- 
 bidden to indulge in the possession of that which at last had become 
 purely a monarchial prerogative. And now, children, — at least 
 those of you whose imaginations are in good working order, — sup- 
 pose we imagine ourselves as staying in London for a day or two. 
 The Grand Hotel, on Trafalgar Square, is rather conveniently situ- 
 ated for sight-seers, and we will make that our supposed stopping- 
 place. It is morning, and, taking hansoms, we will rattle down 
 Northumberland Avenue until we reach the old river Thames. 
 Here we find the grand Victoria Embankment, that, fringed with 
 trees, skirts the edge of the river as far as Blackfriars Bridge. There 
 
WHAT HERALDRY MEANS. 57 
 
 the street ceases to be an embankment, but, by turning a little to the 
 left, we still follow the road, though under a different name. It is 
 now Queen Victoria Street. Our " cabbies " call halt, and, tumbling 
 out upon the pavement, we find ourselves in front of quite a fine- 
 looking building, or, if it is not, it ought to be, for it was one of those 
 creations of Sir Christopher Wren's, that sacrilegious tongues ought 
 not to criticise. But what is this building for which we have taken 
 such an extended visionary flight ? Why, we have come to pay our 
 respects to the grand mausoleum, that Heraldry, with the aid of her 
 friends, has built for herself. Not that she, for the smallest moment, 
 when constructing it, had any such funereal thoughts in her mind, 
 — not she ; but within a few years, I think, she has begun to have 
 suspicions — dark, uncomfortable forebodings — that for such a pur- 
 pose it may eventually be compelled to serve. At present, she uses 
 it as a sort of clothes-press, as it were, in which to hang her faded 
 old court-robes, garments that are a good deal moth-eaten, and where 
 the cloth-of-gold is sadly tarnished. To guard them, a few loyal old 
 retainers of hers, who have gotten into a sort of paralytic way, save 
 when galvanized into sudden action by the advent of unexpected 
 American visitors, are kept. When a gap occurs in the number of 
 these faithful servitors of hers, she finds a few more equally devoted 
 adherents to fill their places. Heraldry tries by various devices to 
 fatten her lean person ; but, truth to say, she is really looking very 
 scrawny, full of wrinkles and crow's-feet, and suffers much not only 
 from inanition, but also from that painful disorder called "megrims." 
 Attacks from this difficulty are extremely violent at every access of 
 power gained by the Liberal party in England. Her only consola- 
 tion then is a visit to this " sanctum sanctorum " of hers, there to 
 
58 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 take such heart of grace as she can in poring over the famous old 
 parchment rolls in which England's oldest families find their names 
 enrolled. She also spends much time in spiritual communion with 
 her faithful chamberlains and attendants. Still, after such experi- 
 ences she often looks more weazened than ever, and nothing less 
 than a trip through Australia, India, and other of Great Britain's 
 colonies can help her to recover her exhausted vitality. But we 
 are blocking up the sidewalk, and it is time to mount the steps of 
 this unique edifice. As we do so we are aware that the great Bible 
 House of London looms up in close proximity at our right, while 
 just beyond it stands the great house where the "Thunderer" 
 forges his bolts that by thousands every week-day morning are flung 
 abroad from its portals. Heraldry certainly has pitched her tent in 
 a goodly neighborhood ; but, just as we start to pass over the thresh- 
 old, an ominous sound is heard, accompanied by uncanny tremblings 
 of the ground beneath our feet, recalling to our minds for a terrified 
 second the uncomfortable fact that we are in the land of Parnell 
 and Dynamite — Fenianism and Nitro-glycerine. Our interest in 
 heraldic research dies suddenly out, and we turn to fly for refuge to 
 our cabs. The drivers reassure us, " Nuthin' but the Underground," 
 — one of the subterranean trains whose rails make a complete 
 net-work beneath the foundations of London's great buildings ; so, 
 somewhat mortified, we again essay to enter the College of Arms, 
 and at last we are within, and find the herald and the pursuivant, 
 who alternate with their associates in presiding over all heraldic 
 matters. 
 
 Brother Jonathan is always easily recognizable, whether appearing 
 as a he, in the best fitting garments that a London tailor can pro- 
 
WHAT HERALDRY MEANS. 59 
 
 duce, or as a sAe, clad in the latest fashions of a Paris mantua-maker ; 
 so we are not surprised at the smile of condescending thrift with 
 which all money-making Britons approach a possible Railroad King, 
 or parvenu Bonanza Prince. But the sweetness of even such a 
 smile has a sort of an adulterated look about its corners. The offi- 
 cials have occasionally stumbled upon an unfortunate family, who, 
 although obliged to seal their letters with their thumbs, evince no 
 desire to better their condition, but do show themselves to be re- 
 markably endowed with both peripatetic and inquisitive qualities. 
 Therefore a discreet, though very slight reserve is noticeable in their 
 reception of us. Their worst fears being realized, we will not blame 
 them if it takes them a few minutes to regain their equanimity. 
 When, at last, they succeed in doing so, a certain iciness of manner 
 effectually suppresses any undue curiosity or excessive questioning 
 on our part, but we learn from a few concise answers that the ener- 
 gies of thirteen officers are required to attend to the needs of the 
 college, and to form this number they have three kings-at-arms, six 
 heralds, and four pursuivants. One herald and one pursuivant, 
 with such clerkly assistance as they require, are to be found, each 
 for a month at a time, at the college. 
 
 An Earl Marshal is the foremost of all the tried and faithful 
 adherents that guard the premises of the shrivelled dame ; his office, 
 during her younger days, was given to any favorite of the king, his 
 choice alone being allowed to fill the position. This continued 
 until the time of Charles the Second, who, impecunious magnifi- 
 cence that he was, had little except wordy honors to bestow 
 upon his favorites. To please the Duke of Norfolk he made the 
 office of Earl Marshal hereditary in his family. The duke was like- 
 
60 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 wise fortunate in having the batons of office, which are always dis- 
 played crosswise behind his shield, made of gold with black enam- 
 elled points, instead of the wooden ones formerly used. At that 
 time the office was no sinecure, but the present young duke does 
 not find his duties too wearing, as they now consist in little else 
 than in issuing all royal proclamations and arranging all solemnities 
 attending certain royal celebrations. 
 
 After the Earl Marshal rank the three Kings-at-Arms, the one 
 belonging to England being styled "Garter King-at-Arms." His 
 title was taken from the knightly Order of that name ; the Scottish 
 King-at-Arms is called Lord Lyon, deriving his name from the 
 Scarlet Lyon of Scotland's shield ; and Ireland's King-at-Arms owes 
 his to Ulster, an important county of that name. 
 
 After these kings-at-arms we find the six heralds, and after these 
 heralds the four pursuivants. These pursuivants all bear names of 
 more or less interest ; they are Blue Mantle, Rouge Croix, Portcul- 
 lis, and Rouge Dragon. When Edward III. passed over the Channel 
 to do homage to the King of France at Amiens for his dukedom of 
 Guienne, he wore a robe of crimson velvet, on which the three 
 leopards of England were embroidered in threads of gold and 
 silver. But the French king wore blue, and afterwards, when 
 Edward assumed the title of King of France, he arrayed himself in 
 a robe and mantle of this color, and created a pursuivant, to whom 
 he gave the name of Manteau Bleu, or Blue Mantle. The pursui- 
 vant Rouge Croix takes his name from the color and shape of the 
 Cross of St. George. Portcullis was created as a pursuivant during 
 the days of Henry the Seventh, to whom for certain family reasons 
 the badge of Portcullis was particularly dear. As to Rouge Dragon, 
 
I 
 
 WHAT HERALDRY MEANS. 61 
 
 we must look to good Queen Bess for the cognomen bestowed on 
 him. 
 
 The object of this college when created was to keep track of all 
 the coats-of-arms used by the various families in the kingdom, find 
 out who was entitled to bear the arms which they displayed, and 
 who were not. This was the more necessary as in those days the 
 station and title of "gentleman" in France and Germany exempted 
 the possessor from taxation, and in England gave the preference 
 for certain military and civil employments. These heralds had 
 the right, when meeting any vehicle bearing a coat-of-arms that 
 belonged not to the owners, to have it stopped, while they 
 publicly blotted out the stolen ornament. This it was their 
 duty to do in so humiliating a way as to make the conscienceless 
 upstart long for the mountains to fall upon him and the hills 
 to cover him. The more thoroughly to sift out all such aspiring 
 misdoers, "Visitations" were instituted, causing great anguish of 
 mind amongst the wealthy parvenus who had been provoking the 
 righteous souls of their noble neighbors by displaying arms which 
 they were clamorously accused of having no right to wear. The 
 results of these visitations were written down on long, thin slips 
 of parchment, which were then rolled carefully up and stowed 
 away. It was not thought necessary to make these investigations 
 more frequently than at intervals of every thirty years, and, 
 indeed, there were but three or four ever made. These rolls, 
 therefore, so few in number, are highly valued by the ancient 
 aristocracy of Great Britain, as by unrolling them they can prove 
 their claim to belong to the "pedigreed" of the land. This college, 
 crumbling as it now may seem, still sustains itself by means of the 
 
62 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 taxes which I have already told you they gather from the nobility 
 and gentry, and from the purses of aspiring millionnaires. 
 
 It was during the Wars of the Roses that Heraldry began to find 
 herself no longer young. Later, when the Stuarts fell, and Crom- 
 well, with his burly Roundheads, drove the plumed Cavaliers far 
 into the background, there to await the sunnier days that might, 
 perhaps, be theirs, this " Jewel of the Middle Ages " began to lose 
 its lustre. During the lifetime of that unfortunate monarch of the 
 House of Stuart, Charles the First, the harshness of the College of 
 Heralds had created great dissatisfaction. One unlucky offender, 
 whose crime consisted in calling some heraldic swan a goose, was 
 hastily packed away into the common jail, and all his goods confis- 
 cated. Such insolence was not uncommon, and the high-handed 
 proceedings could hardly be styled popular, and great was the dis- 
 content that began, for these and many other reasons, to be sown 
 broadcast through the land. So greatly did heraldry suffer during 
 the stormy period of the Commonwealth, that even after the 
 Restoration she looked dyspeptic and thin. There was little induce- 
 ment now for false heralds to present themselves in distant towns, 
 offering for merely nominal sums to create perfect coats-of-arms for 
 the wealthy common people, though during the reign of Elizabeth 
 the allurements offered were so great that certain men, being found 
 guilty of such practices, not only were willing to undergo the loss 
 of their ears, which was the punishment awarded to such misde- 
 meanors, but kept on in their evil practices until a long period of 
 confinement in prison cured them of their unrighteous inclinations. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CLASSES OF ARMS. — ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD. 
 
 And now, having seen for ourselves the last abode of what 
 still remains of Heraldry, I think we can return to our own 
 country, and sort out the different varieties of coats-of-arms which 
 we find commonly used in England. There are several of these 
 families of coats-of-arms; one we have already referred to, which 
 a herald calls Assumptive Arms ; by that I mean, arms that 
 people selected for themselves, as in the early days of Heraldry, 
 during the wars of the Crusades, to commemorate certain gallant 
 exploits. 
 
 These Assumptive Arms, when carried for many generations 
 from father to son without the addition of quarterings from the 
 mother's shield, are called Paternal Arms. Such 
 is the coat-of-arms belonging to the great family 
 of Montrose, who, for unknown reasons, either 
 have never found favor in the sight of heiresses, 
 or have preferred to select their brides where 
 the glitter of ducats gave no added lustre to 
 their charms. Besides these, we find Allusive Grabam ' Earl of Montrose - 
 Arms, arms that have been chosen because of some resemblance 
 between their names and natural objects. The shield of the 
 princely House of Colonna, in Italy, is one of these. In the centre 
 
 63 
 
 §gn&$ 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 vV>V/- 
 
64 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 Colonna. 
 
 of the escutcheon a white column with a golden base and crown is 
 seen. This was given to the family by the Emperor Louis of 
 Bavaria, to show his gratitude to Stefano Colonna, who being at 
 that time chief senator of Rome, crowned Louis 
 in the Capitol, contrary to the express wish of 
 the Pope. 
 
 In England such families are very numerous. 
 We will find, for instance, the Colts, who show 
 a skittish little foal upon their shield; the 
 Trees, whose escutcheon is bright with the 
 vivid green of a tree in full foliage ; the Foresters, too, who display 
 bugles upon theirs; and the family of Stourton, whose property 
 lies on either side of the little river Stour. Upon their shield 
 the Stour is a wavy band that passes diagonally across the shield, 
 on either side of which are little circles, indicat- 
 ing the springs by which the estate is largely 
 watered. 
 
 Grandest of all are those escutcheons called 
 the Arms of Dominion. This is rather an im- 
 posing name, a sort of "ermine of the judges 
 and purple of the kings" affair. And it is 
 quite as imposing as it sounds. Such shields are those belonging 
 to the nations themselves. The one borne by our American people 
 we have already described, but there is a history connected with 
 those assumed by every nation on the earth. The escutcheon dis- 
 played by England has passed through many changes, and it was 
 not until the first year of the century that the Lilies of France 
 disappeared from one of her quarters. This pretended sovereignty 
 
 Stourton. 
 
CLASSES OF ARMS. — ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD. 
 
 65 
 
 died a natural death with the in-coming of the practical and truth- 
 loving nineteenth century. 
 
 Then there are what are called the Arms of Community, by 
 which are meant such coats-of-arms as are displayed by cities, coun- 
 ties, etc. ; for instance, those of Glasgow, on which a tree is seen, 
 with a bird resting on a branch, and beneath the tree a salmon, 
 having in its mouth a golden ring. The story is that the wife of 
 the governor of the town, having lost her wedding ring in crossing 
 the Clyde, suffered much from the reproaches of her husband, who, 
 as she was very beautiful, refused to believe her tale of the manner 
 of its loss. In much grief she sought the aid of Kentigern, Bishop 
 of Glasgow. Listening to her story of woe his heart was touched, 
 and he promised to besiege the Throne of Grace with earnest pray- 
 ers until the jewel should be recovered. These prayers were 
 answered ; a salmon drawn from the Clyde was found by its aston- 
 ished captor to have a ring caught in its gills. The story of the 
 fisherman soon spread abroad, and, reaching the ears of the offended 
 magnate as well as those of his disconsolate wife, the family jar at 
 last was ended. 
 
 The arms of the city of Worcester are adorned with little pears 
 — a lasting memorial of a visit from the English Queen. When 
 Elizabeth, during one of her magnificent " Progresses," or journeys, 
 through her dominions, stopped for a day or two at Worcester, that 
 city, to show its appreciation of the high honor, and its love of 
 Her Majesty, carefully transplanted a full-grown pear-tree, whose 
 branches were laden with ripe fruit, into the central square of the 
 town. Elizabeth approved of this loyal demonstration, and 
 when her beruffled and bepetticoated Highness withdrew, she gave 
 
66 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 1 
 
 
 '> 
 
 ii mil 
 
 llilillii 
 
 
 
 
 City of London. 
 
 the city the right to display pears as an augmentation upon 
 its shield. 
 
 The city of London bears a cross of St. George upon its shield, 
 with a little sword filling the upper right-hand 
 corner. This sword, as it first appeared upon 
 the city's coat-of-arms, represented that of St. 
 Paul, who is the patron saint of the city; but 
 when Walworth, the Mayor of London, knocked 
 Wat Tyler down, it was changed to the Mayor's 
 rapier — a memorial of his gallant defence of the 
 king. This was during the reign of. Richard the Second. 
 
 The peasants of Essex and Kent, after much provocation, had 
 risen in revolt against the government, and, headed by Wat Tyler, 
 forced an entrance into London. At Smithfield, by his own invita- 
 tion, the boyish King Richard, then only sixteen, accompanied by 
 the Mayor of London and a small retinue of knights, met the mob, 
 whose hands had just been reddened by the blood of the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury and of the Treasurer of England. Wat Tyler, who 
 headed the insurgents, suddenly caught sight of the king approach- 
 ing, and instantly spurred forward to meet him, addressing him 
 with insolent curtness : " Sir King, seest thou all people yonder ? " 
 " Yea, truly," was the quick reply, " why sayest thou so ? " " Be- 
 cause," answered Tyler, " they be all at my command, and have 
 sworn to me their faith and troth to do all that I would have them." 
 The king, to pacify the enraged rioters, then promised to ease mat- 
 ters for the peasants, and peace seemed about to settle upon all, the 
 rioters themselves beginning to break up, when Tyler, inflamed by 
 his passion and intoxicated by his novel position as a leader of a 
 

 CLASSES OF ARMS. — ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD. 67 
 
 strong faction, picked a sudden quarrel with one of the king's 
 knights, and would have run upon him with his sword had he not 
 been prevented. High words ensued, and the Mayor of London 
 drew his dagger. In the mele'e that followed, the king's person was 
 threatened ; quick as thought the Mayor sprang upon Tyler, dan- 
 gerously wounding him. At this Tyler shouted to his followers, 
 " Kill ! Kill ! " and Walworth the Mayor, rushing once more upon 
 him, ran his dagger through his body, pinning him to the earth. 
 With yells and execrations the rabble started to fall upon the king 
 and his little company, exclaiming, " Our captain is dead, we are 
 betrayed!" But King Richard, boy as he was, rode fearlessly for 
 ward alone to meet them, calling out, " What say ye, my masters — • 
 What are ye doing? Tyler was a traitor, I am your king, and I 
 will be your captain and guide." At this opportune moment a 
 party of a thousand armed London citizens, led by a knight, ap- 
 peared upon the scene. This, added to many conciliatory promises 
 of the king — promises, however, which were never kept — suc- 
 ceeded in quelling the riot, and the mob vanished to its several 
 homes. The dagger of Walworth, it is supposed, then took the 
 place, in the city arms, of what was in earlier days the long sword of 
 the Apostle. Walworth and Philpot, a former Mayor, who also did 
 gallant service at this time, were rewarded with augmentations of a 
 similar kind to their shields, and had large grants of land, with 
 considerable money, given to them. 
 
 This Mayor Walworth is said to have been the first tradesman 
 knighted in England. 
 
 And as we happen to be thinking of London just this 
 moment, I would like to ask you if, amidst all the Burtons, 
 
68 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 Nortons, Farnhams, Gordons, etc., you ever met any one bearing the 
 name of London? 
 
 There is an odd distich which runs this way : — 
 
 " In • ford,' in ' ham,' in • ley,' in ' ton,' 
 The most of English surnames run." 
 
 Half of these and many similar endings mean a village or town. 
 Those living in them probably found subsistence difficult to obtain 
 during the time of dissension and strife in the early English days, 
 and, as a necessity, many of them gradually drifted into the great 
 busy capital. Once settled in London, with good wages and plenty 
 of work, it was rarely that they returned to their early homes. 
 They became known, however, by the name of their birthplace — 
 such names as Addington, Hamilton, Dunham, Burnham, and num- 
 berless others. 
 
 The coats-of-arms belonging to the great Bishoprics also belong 
 to this class of Community Arms. A very curious one is that of 
 the Bishopric or See of Chichester. It recalls the old fabulous tales 
 of Prester John, that wonderful myth of a king, 
 the stories of whose magnificent court and re- 
 markable Christian faith made all Christendom 
 gape during the Middle Ages. Upon the shield 
 of this See is a representation of the king, sitting 
 """"■Sep^""" comfortably enough, albeit his seat is but a tomb- 
 Bishop of Chichester. s t ne, but holding a sharp sword in a most dis- 
 tressing fashion between his teeth. He wears a hood, and has a 
 book in one hand. This Prester John was a mythical person, but 
 one whom the credulous folk of the Middle Ages firmly believed 
 
CLASSES OF ARMS. — ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD. 
 
 69 
 
 existed as a mighty potentate in the far East. Many descriptions of 
 the marvels of his kingdom were brought to Europe by travellers, 
 who themselves had only heard these tales in distant lands. Each 
 report was an improvement upon a former one, until the descrip- 
 tions of his kingdom equalled those given in the Arabian Nights. 
 The coast line of this wonderful country was said to be jagged with 
 huge blocks of adamant, which, acting like magnets, attracted all 
 ships that chanced to approach. The forests were filled with par- 
 rots, who, "plenty as geese," flew screaming through the trees. 
 As for the pebble-stones, nothing but jewels were washed upon the 
 shores, many of them quite large enough to allow platters, dishes, 
 and cups to be cut from them ; indeed, so many strange and marvel- 
 lous things were contained in this unknown land that life would 
 not be long enough to write them down on paper. Prester John 
 himself was called a " Christian," and was declared to believe M well 
 in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost," but still somewhat 
 heathenish in lesser details of our faith. His dominions were de- 
 scribed as being enormous in their extent, containing no less than 
 seventy-two provinces, each large enough to command the entire 
 attention of a separate subordinate king, and so huge was his army 
 that no less than three hundred and thirty thousand men guarded 
 his standards. 
 
 very large, and very high, and all bejewelled with the precious 
 stones. But, notwithstanding the unequalled splendor of his king- 
 dom, Prester John was no stay-at-home monarch ; he travelled occa- 
 sionally, and I believe it was Columbus who thought he saw, ram- 
 bling about upon one of the West Indian Islands, the revered person 
 
70 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 of this famous man. This is the story that we are told clings to 
 the strange figure adorning the arms of Chichester See, but now 
 and then a priestly critic has been found, who declares that this 
 so-called " Prester John " is in reality a representation of the 
 Apostle Paul, the sharp sword symbolizing the Word of God, 
 " which is sharper than a two-edged sword." 
 
 There were also Arms of Concession. These were given or con- 
 ceded to a subject either by the sovereign or by a powerful baron. 
 
 Henry VIII. gave to his well beloved Jane Seymour the quar- 
 tering that now appears on the shield of the Duke of Somerset, 
 whose ancestors were her brothers. The early demise of the affec- 
 tions of the many-wived Bluff King Hal was anticipated by her own 
 early vanishing from worldly scenes. But just as her gracious and 
 lovely spirit was starting on its homeward 
 journey, she blessed the king by giving him a 
 little son. The writers of her day declare her 
 to have been not only the most beautiful of all 
 the wives of the king, but as possessing also 
 the gentlest disposition, and not only did the 
 people mourn her loss, but the king himself, 
 surprised at finding himself robbed of what he, 
 as yet, had not wearied, grieved over his loss 
 to such an extent that be allowed himself to go 
 wifeless during the long term of two entire years. The crest that 
 was assumed by her family after her death was a phoenix rising 
 from its ashes, illustrative of her death. 
 
 Another instance was when Lord Audley conferred such arms 
 on four of his retainers after the great battle of Poictiers. As soon 
 
 Seymour. 
 
CLASSES OF ARMS. 
 
 ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD. 
 
 71 
 
 as victory fairly settled upon the banners of the Black Prince, that 
 noble leader called for Lord Audley, and, throwing his arms about 
 his neck, exclaimed, in the presence of many of his officers, " Sir 
 James, both I myself and all others acknowledge you, in the busi- 
 ness of the day, to have been the best doer in arms ; wherefore, with 
 intent to furnish you the better to pursue the wars, I retain you 
 forever my knight, with five hundred marks yearly revenue, which 
 I shall assign you out of my inheritance in England." At that time 
 this was considered a magnificent estate, and the noble lord appre- 
 ciated it. But, though highly flattered, the noble knight remembered 
 that much of his success was due to the valiant behavior of his four 
 squires, Delves, Mackworth, Hawkeston and Furlthurst ; so, inspired 
 by the conduct of the prince, he, with an outburst of generous feel- 
 ing, divided the entire gift amongst them, and 
 with it gave permission to bear his own arms, 
 slightly altered. The prince heard of this, and, 
 determining that Audley should not go unre- 
 warded, immediately insisted upon the knight 
 accepting another annuity of six hundred marks. 
 
 His arms were red, with a network of gold, 
 and those of his stout-hearted esquires, borne by their descendants 
 during many generations, bore arms in which the fret of gold on 
 a background of red was conspicuous. 
 
 Arms of Alliance were such as were brought into families by 
 marriage with a wealthy heiress. 
 
 If you look at the shield now displayed by the Earl of Shrews- 
 bury, you will see upon a scarlet background, a fine little golden 
 lion, rampant, or standing gayly on one of his little hind legs. This 
 
 Audley. 
 
72 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 Talbot, Earl of Shrews- 
 bury, ol-arms, such as never existed at all. 
 
 was the result of one of the early Talbots, Gilbert by name, falling 
 desperately in love with Gwendoline, the heiress of the wealthy 
 Prince Rhys of Wales. His own coat-of-arms 
 was a shield covered with diagonal bars of silver 
 and gold, but, marrying this lady, he adopted her 
 shield, as you now see it. 
 
 Then come the arms that are called Attribu- 
 tive, or, as we would say, " make believe " coat- 
 Some 
 
 of the old romancing heraldists loved to add all the glory they 
 could to their beloved science, and so felt that the worthy old 
 warriors of the Bible, as well as the early heroes of Greece, ought 
 to be honored with coats-of-arms, and proceeded to demand of their 
 own imaginations what seemed best for each. Consequently, they 
 describe to us with calm assurance the very arms, not only of the 
 Wise Men from the East (poor Melchior being unkindly left to 
 shiver in the shadow of neglect), but they can show us also those 
 of David and of Samson, and even those of our first parents and 
 their belligerent son. Adam's escutcheon, they assure us, was at 
 first of a bright red color. Eve's shield was small and white, and 
 as she was an heiress (!) it was placed in the centre of her husband's 
 escutcheon. But when, to our eternal grief, they sinned and were 
 driven out of Paradise, they had to change their insignia, and now 
 we behold Adam's shield still red, but with a garland of fig leaves 
 around the border, and Eve's little white escutcheon is now silver, 
 with a small green apple in its centre. 
 
 Abel put his father's arms on two quarters of his shield, and 
 those of his mother on the remaining two. Cain, after he slew his 
 
CLASSES OF ARMS. — ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD. 
 
 73 
 
 brother, wished to change his coat to escape death at the hands of 
 his fellow-beings ; therefore some worthy heraldist informs us God 
 mercifully put a mark upon it ! 
 
 Samson bore a red shield with a lion lying down in the midst of 
 a circle of black bees ; while David had a blue shield with a gold 
 harp ornamenting the centre thereof. Alexander the Great is 
 credited with a shield that it is possible might have astonished the 
 supposed possessor, could he have seen it. It is declared to be of 
 red, with a golden chair in the centre, and in this chair a golden 
 lion, sitting at his ease, amusing his leonine self with a grand battle- 
 axe of silver. 
 
 But we will not forget that we live in the nineteenth century ; 
 and practical Americans, at least, cannot really be expected to put 
 perfect faith in all such surprising and unbiblical 
 tales. We will simply agree to believe that it 
 was in the eleventh century that coats-of-arms 
 became a positive adjunct to the European mode 
 of life. 
 
 Last of all there are the Arms of Office, such 
 as the coat-of-arms displayed by the Duke of 
 Ormond, whose ancestor was appointed by Henry III. of England 
 as butler, or Comptroller, of all the king's wines carried into Ireland. 
 His descendants were to hold the office after him through all gener- 
 ations. Their shield displayed three covered cups, as indicative of 
 their duties. 
 
 The great and royal House of Stuart sprang from the High 
 Stewards of Scotland, and from this office took their name. The 
 little Scotch laddies are expected never to forget this when they 
 
 Butler. 
 
74 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 
 read of the royal Jameses and Charleses who reigned for so long a 
 time in England. 
 
 The various orders of knighthood, such as that of the Garter, 
 with which we are all so familiar, belong to the Arms of Office. 
 
 The legend of the origin of the famous Order of the Garter, 
 from which the name of the King-at-Arms of England is taken, is 
 too well known to be repeated here, but it serves 
 to call our attention to the other renowned Orders 
 of Knights which heraldry introduced into exist- 
 ence during the Middle Ages. All knights did 
 not belong to them, and differed from them in 
 their title, being styled Knights Bachelors, whilst 
 Garter, King-at-Arms. those elected to the various Orders were supposed 
 to be wedded to them. If so, heraldic Mormonism has become 
 extremely popular in England, as elsewhere in Europe — the Duke of 
 Wellington, alone, being entitled to wear the badges of no less than 
 eleven of these illustrious fraternities ! Some of these orders in the 
 earlier times were religious as well as military, and some purely 
 military, while all had specific objects in view when created. The 
 defence of the Holy Sepulchre, and objects allied to that, gave 
 birth to many, such as the Knights Hospitallers and the Knights 
 Templars, and that called the Teutonic Order of Knights. 
 
 The conferring of admissions into these various orders is one of 
 the methods by which sovereigns reward their most worthy subjects. 
 The Spanish Orders of Calatrava, Alcantara, St. Jago, and other 
 European orders, too, sprang up at about the same time, such as the 
 Golden Fleece (or Toison D'Or), The Star, St. Michael, Porcupine, 
 Swan, St. Esprit ; and a legion of brothers and sisters whose names 
 
CLASSES OF AJLtMS. — ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD. 75 
 
 it would be as much a weariness to the flesh for you to read as for 
 me to write. But the tales of the origin of some of the most noted 
 among them might interest you. 
 
 The Order of St. Jago owes its origin, the old Spanish chroni- 
 clers declare, to what was certainly a most kind and friendly act on 
 the part of the good St. James. The Spaniards were engaged in a 
 desperate fight with the Moors, and the Infidels were proving them- 
 selves far too fierce and numerous for the Spaniards to maintain 
 their ground. Each brave Spaniard was beginning to think that it 
 would be better to show a clean pair of heels to their furious foe 
 than attempt to face them with their shield and spear, when the 
 sympathizing saint, clad in his pilgrim garb, appeared before them, 
 mounted on a snow-white charger and carrying a cross in his hand. 
 The apparition was seen by all, and each panic-stricken soldier 
 found his courage returning, and under this supernatural leadership 
 pressed on to perfect victory. This order admitted but thirteen 
 knights to its membership, but it became the most powerful of all 
 military orders in Spain, and acquired vast estates. It is even said 
 that they could, when occasion demanded, bring one thousand fol- 
 lowers into the field. Their influence waxed very great, and even 
 in certain matters connected with the Spanish monarchs themselves 
 they could interfere. To such intervention Spain is indebted for 
 the glorious reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. Some dispute about 
 the royal succession had arisen, and the Order of St. Jago upheld 
 the rightful claimant to the throne most manfully, so that it was 
 enabled to place the crown on Isabella's head. Their feast is held 
 on All Saints' Day, while that of the English Order of the Garter 
 takes place on April 24th, the day set apart for St. George. 
 
76 DAME HEKALDEY. 
 
 The Order of the Golden Fleece (Toison D'Or) is composed of 
 but twenty-four knights, and was created by Philip Le Bon of Bur- 
 gundy. Their crimson velvet mantles, lined with white, are em- 
 broidered alternately with steels and flint stones, and around the 
 neck of the collar is a series of very perfectly wrought flint stones 
 and steels, "Flames and Fleeces." The flint stones bore a motto, 
 " Ante ferit quammicat" (It strikes before it shines). This repre- 
 sentation of the Flint and Steel " Philip the Good " put into the 
 collar of the Golden Fleece in 1429, as indicating the advanced 
 state of civilization at that time. The order stands high in the 
 esteem of European knights, and in olden times it is said that the 
 knights belonging to it yielded precedence only to the king. It is 
 now held second only to the English Order of the Garter. Some 
 ancient writer says that Philip intended, in giving the name of the 
 Golden Fleece to this order, to inspire all brave men with the 
 courage of Gideon, whose courage was fortified by the miraculous 
 appearance of the dampened fleece, and enabled to conquer a vast 
 host of the Midianites. And second to induce his loyal and affec- 
 tionate subjects to guard their flocks with great care, as in their 
 wool was the source of their greatest wealth. The chief of this 
 order is now the King of Spain. 
 
 Another French order was that of The Star, and the ceremony of 
 installation was upon the Feast of the Epiphany. Its name alludes 
 either to the Star of the Magi, or to the Blessed Virgin, who in 
 many hymns and prayers is called " Star of the Sea " — " Ave, 
 Maris Stella." 
 
 The Order of St. Michael was founded by Charles VII., in honor 
 of the Archangel, who appeared on the Bridge of Orleans and fore- 
 
CLASSES OF ARMS. — ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD. 77 
 
 told the destruction of the English. Every knight was compelled 
 to wear the collar of his order during times of peace, or pay a 
 penalty for not so doing. 
 
 In England there are several noble orders in existence : — the 
 Order of the Garter — that of the Bath, which is older than that 
 of the Garter — the Order of the Thistle — that of the Star of Eng- 
 land, and others. 
 
 When the Order of the Knights of the Garter was first insti- 
 tuted by Edward III., the Queen and the wives of the knights were 
 allowed to share in the glories of the fraternity, and were called 
 " Dames de la Fraternity de St. George "; and wore their robes and 
 hoods ornamented with the Garter. This fashion disappeared, and 
 though the courtly Charles the First tried to revive it, he was una- 
 ble to do so. The number of the knights, exclusive of the Sovereign, 
 was fixed as twenty-six, but various alterations have been made, by 
 which foreign sovereigns can be added to the list; and the noble 
 Duke of Abercorn, who has so recently died, was chief of the dele- 
 gation selected to present the gift of membership in the noble order, 
 some years ago, to Humbert, King of Italy. As so few ceremonies 
 now take place that breathe of the old spirit of heraldry, it is rather 
 pleasant to recall the little pageant. The Duke of Abercorn, then 
 Garter King-at-Arms, accompanied by several of the heralds, was 
 appointed to perform the ceremony. Upon reaching Italy they 
 were admitted into the presence of the King, and the duke gave to 
 him the courteous message with which the Queen of England had 
 intrusted him. He then presented his Letter of Credence and the 
 book in which, should Italy's sovereign choose to read them, he 
 would find all the Blue Laws of the Ancient Order of the Garter. 
 
78 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 Then, while he fastened the knightly ornaments upon the king, 
 some very ceremonious and high-sounding " admonitions " were read 
 by others of the Commission, and it is hoped that King Humbert 
 felt that proper sense of gratitude which any foreign potentate 
 ought to experience on receiving such proof of England's high 
 esteem ! 
 
 The knights hold their yearly feast at Windsor Castle ; " and on 
 the morrow of that day they were all required to attend in black 
 gowns under their mantles, to 'hear mass of Requiem, which shall 
 be solemnly sung for the souls of the fellows that are deceased, and 
 of all other Christian people, and that all the company be there, 
 without some of them be let reasonably, or else that he hath license 
 of the Sovereign.' " The church and deanery there were, it is said, 
 founded at the time of the institution, and also " thirteen poor aged 
 gentlemen established, to be maintained with stipends by the name 
 of Knights of Windsor, who had appointed to them robes of scarlet 
 cloth, with a small escutcheon of St. George upon their shoulders, 
 according to the manner of the Order, which were to pray for the 
 Order." 
 
 The centre of the Star of Bath is the shield ascribed to King 
 Arthur, viz.: three crowns proper, and his motto, "Trois en un." 
 The order, as being the most ancient, is, perhaps, worth a little 
 longer glance than we shall give the others. Perhaps, boys, you 
 might like to know how a Knight of the Bath was created during 
 the days of Henry VI. of England, so I will copy an account of it 
 that can be found in some old manuscript, entitled, " How Knights 
 of the Bath should be made " : — 
 
 " The even of the day of the feast, all the squires that shall be 
 
CLASSES OF ARMS. — ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD. 79 
 
 made knights shall come altogether into the king's palace, and then 
 the states of the king's house shall meet with them, and bring them 
 up unto the king's presence ; and then shall the king's taster go 
 unto the kitchen for his meat, and all the squires with him that 
 shall be made knights, and each one of them shall bear a dish, and 
 they shall serve the king, but of the first course, and when the king 
 is served, then shall the gentlemen ushers bring them altogether 
 into their chamber. . . . And when they have dined, then shall the 
 gentleman usher come into the said chamber and assign every 
 squire his place for his 'bedde and for his bayne. And when the 
 king hath dined, then shall be sent, by the king's commandment, 
 certain squires of his household, to await upon them that shall be 
 made knights, and to be their servants and chamberlains. 
 
 " Then shall the king's barber come and shave all the squires, and 
 every squire shall pay for his beard-shaving twenty shillings, and 
 every squire shall ordain for his bath twenty-four ells of linen cloth, 
 and that shall the king's barber have for his fee. Then shall the 
 said squires go unto their bath, and when they be in their bath, then 
 shall the heralds of arms go unto the king, and let him have knowl- 
 edge that the squires be in their bath. Then shall the king com- 
 mand the steward of his house, with other lords and knights, for to 
 go unto the squires, and give them their charge as they sit in their 
 bath. 
 
 "The steward accordingly, with all the lords and knights, the 
 king's minstrels and heralds of arms going before them, enter the 
 chamber door, and give the knights 'their charge,' saying in this 
 wise, ' Brother, the king, our sovereign lord, will that ye take this 
 high and worshipful order upon you, the which I, as a knight, 
 
80 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 declare unto you certain points that longeth unto this high and 
 worshipful order of knighthood. Ye shall love God above all 
 things and be steadfast in the faith, and sustain the church, and ye 
 shall be true unto your sovereign lord, and true of your word and 
 promise : also ye shall help widows in their right, at every time they 
 will require you, and maidens. Also ye shall sit in no place where 
 that any judgment should be given wrongfully against anybody, to 
 your knowledge. Also ye shall not suffer no murderers nor extor- 
 tioners of the king's people within the country where ye dwell, but 
 with your power ye shall take them, and put them in the hands 
 of justice, that they may be punished as the king's law will.' 
 
 " This charge ended, the knight who had uttered it was bidden to 
 put his hand into the bath, and take up water, and make a cross 
 upon the squire's left shoulder, before and behind, and kiss it, and 
 say, ' In nomine PatrisJ etc., adding, ' God send you as much wor- 
 ship as ever had any of your kin ' ; and thus must do all the lords 
 and knights unto every squire as he sitteth in his bayne." From 
 this kind of re-baptism some have derived dub, from the Anglo- 
 Saxon "dyppan," to dip. Indeed, the word " dub " itself is used in 
 the North for a pool. 
 
 "Then shall they go out of their baths into their beds, and 
 then they shall arise and make them ready in hermit's array of 
 Colchester russet." Their beds, which were to consist of mattresses, 
 blankets, sheets, coverlets, and coverlids of worsted, and cloths 
 of gold upon that, and red tapites of worsted at the bed's head, 
 hanging over the bed, became the property of a certain officer 
 of the king's, called "the kingis chaundre." After leaving 
 their beds, the squires were to go into the chapel, and be in 
 

 CLASSES OF ARMS. — ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD. 81 
 
 their prayers "until in the morning unto eight of the clock; and 
 then they shall have a mass of the Holy Ghost, and then they 
 shall offer a taper, and a penny, sticking in the taper as nigh the 
 light as it may be reasonably. When mass is done, then they shall 
 go unto their chambers and change them, and the king's wayte shall 
 have all their watching garments. Then they shall change them 
 into another raiment. First they shall put on them doublets, with 
 black hose, black shoes, with leather soles, a red coat of red tartaryn, 
 and a white leather girdle about him, and the girdle may have no 
 buckle ; then he must have a white coif upon his head, and then a 
 mantle of red tartaryn purfled about with ermine, and that must be 
 put above him ; and a white lace must be in the said mantle before 
 at the breast, with a pair of white gloves, knit in the said lace. 
 Then the servants and chamberlains shall take their swords, and the 
 scabbard shall be white leather without any buckle, and a pair of 
 gilt spurs hanging on the hilt of the said sword, and the said ser- 
 vants and chamberlains shall bear the said sword with the spurs 
 before them. 
 
 " Then they shall come down and take their horses, and their 
 horses shall be arrayed in this wise ; the saddle must be black, with 
 a cross patonce hanging in the front of the horse. Then they shall 
 alight, and come into the king's presence with their swords borne 
 before them, and make their obeisance ; then shall two knights take 
 the spurs off the sword, and do them on their heels ; then shall the 
 king gird his sword about him ; then the squire putteth both his 
 thumbs within the lace of the mantle, and lifts up his arms above 
 his head, and the king putteth both his hands within his arms, and 
 takes him about the neck with both his hands and kisses him, and 
 
82 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 plucks him by the neck, and says unto him, ' Soyez bon chevalier.' 
 Then he kneels down, and stands by till the king hath made them 
 all ; then they shall be led into the chapel with knights." The trou- 
 badour, Arnaud de Merveil, thus states the true merits of a knight : 
 " It is to fight well, to conduct a troop well, to do his service well, 
 to be well armed, to ride his horse well, to present himself with a 
 good grace at courts, and to make himself agreeable there." He 
 adds, " Seldom are these qualities found in the same person." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MEANING OF " COAT-OF-ARMS " — STORIES CONNECTED WITH 
 FLAGS — STANDARDS AND ENSIGNS. 
 
 Here at last we reach a point where we ought to know what the 
 meaning of a " coat-of-arms " is. I have no doubt, children, that 
 those of you who have been in London, and who had never heard 
 that there was such a building as a Herald's College, knew quite 
 enough about the Tower of London to clamor so loudly with your 
 parents that a visit to it was the first of all pilgrimages to the many 
 " sights " that London contains. If these boys and girls did make 
 such a visit, I think they understand what "armor " is, as well as they 
 know what a rifle or a cannon is. All varieties of armor are to be 
 found in this solemn old repository of the remains of England's past 
 glory, as well as of her shame ; linked armor, and its gradual transition 
 into plate armor, its gradual decrease into greaves here, plates there, 
 — until it entirely vanishes into the present uniform of the British 
 soldier. The linked armor is worth more than a tired glance, such 
 as a pair of fagged-out legs are apt to suggest to the upstairs mem- 
 bers of the body to bestow upon it. Every tiny link so fine, and 
 yet so nearly sabre-proof, was fashioned one by one, and fastened 
 with infinite patience and deftness to its fellow by the slow fingers 
 of the armorer. So highly were these artisans esteemed in olden 
 times that when one such artificer proved himself truly a master of 
 
 83 
 
84 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 his craft, he was often treated as an officer of high rank. Besides 
 having the first place in military precedency, he was protected from 
 harm by very unusual penalties, as in the case of a certain Highland 
 armorer, who, for some act of more than common iniquity, was 
 entitled to suffer the severest of punishments. He was, however, 
 so able a mechanic, could so nicely fit the joints of helmets and 
 gauntlets, so successfully weld and fashion the pliable and impene- 
 trable coats-of-mail, that the enraged chief, finding no other means 
 of satisfying justice, hung two weavers in his place ! The father of 
 the scholarly Melanchthon, Luther's learned self, was such a work- 
 man ; and his coat-of-arms, on which was painted a lion sitting upon 
 a shield and helmet, holding tongs and hammer in his arms, was the 
 gift of his beloved Emperor, Maximilian, given in return for a suit 
 of armor made by him for the royal personage. These much-prized 
 shirts of steel were liable to become useless through the riddling 
 effects of iron rust, induced by exposure to the drenching storms and 
 nightly dews ; they were very hot, also, when worn under the blazing 
 rays of a midday's summer sun. Therefore a "surcoat" of woollen 
 or silk was worn above it, which bore the brunt of the storm, and 
 warded off the extremest heat of the sun. This made the coat, but 
 where were the arms ? Those originated, without much doubt, in the 
 device that was blazoned upon the standard of the great chieftains 
 or commanders. On the standard, such insignia served to rally 
 many a forlorn hope, and could often bring victory at the very 
 moment when defeat was crushing its victim under its iron heel. A 
 crest waving from the helmet of a knight served to identify him, to 
 a certain extent, from other nobles ; but an accident might deprive 
 him of it, and why would it not be well to take the device that 
 
MEANING OF " COAT-OF-ARMS." 85 
 
 fluttered in the hands of his standard-bearer, and with it decorate 
 the highly polished surface of his shield? Then, if this were 
 adorned, why not ornament his silken surcoat with the same device ? 
 Even the trappings of his horse, if enriched in a similar manner, 
 would add to the brilliancy of his appearance. Thus "coats-of- 
 arms " — surcoats with the insignia of the wearer embroidered upon 
 them — came to be as much a part of the equipment of a knight as 
 his armor itself. The saddles were often most exquisitely decorated. 
 — Richard I. bestrode one that " glittered with red and gold span- 
 gles, and had on the hinder part two small lions of gold turned 
 towards each other, with their mouths open and each stretching out 
 one of its forelegs as if to attack and devour the other." 
 
 This wearing of coats-of-arms became at last so universal a cus- 
 tom, that it was almost a necessity. The unfortunate Earl of Glou- 
 cester, who had accompanied his grandfather, King Edward I., in 
 his wars in Scotland, lost his life through negligence in this respect. 
 A sudden awakening by a breathless messenger during the twilight 
 hour of early morning, the sound of the screams and shouts of an 
 army startled from their slumbers by an unexpected onslaught of 
 the enemy, and all the hubbub and uproar incident to such an 
 alarm, bewildered the young prince. He hurried from his tent to 
 his horse in such haste that he failed to throw the surcoat over his 
 steel corselet. Then with a courage that knew not fear he fought 
 his way to where the ranks of half-clad soldiery were striving to 
 repel the shouting assailants. His presence was unrecognized, and 
 in the struggle he was himself cut down. His captors afterwards 
 acknowledged that, owing to the gnawing poverty of the struggling 
 Scottish clans, they would, for the sake of the heavy ransom, have 
 
86 DAME HP]RALDEY. 
 
 gladly spared the prince's life. " But," they said, " he had left his 
 armorial bearings behind him." 
 
 Very few of these perishable old relics still exist, but the surcoat 
 of Edward the Black Prince still hangs, faded and tattered, in the 
 old Cathedral at Canterbury. 
 
 These surcoats, thus gorgeously ornamented, intended simply to 
 identify the wearer, were, as the days of heraldry grew more palmy, 
 at last introduced into the festivities of court life. The knights 
 were not content with simply displaying their grandeur upon the 
 battlefield. They proceeded to have their court mantles covered 
 with their embroidered devices ; and such splendor did these decora- 
 tions add to their appearance that their wives and their daughters 
 became envious, not to say jealous, and it was not long before they 
 too graced the balls and high festival occasions of a courtly life in 
 like apparel. Upon her dress the fashionable dame displayed the arms 
 borne by her father, and upon her mantle, if she were married, she 
 embroidered those of her husband. Even so grave and dignified a 
 personage as old John of Gaunt, — so illustrious in war and astute 
 in council, — did not think it beneath him to appear decked out in a 
 costume the entire right half of which, from head to toe, was blue, 
 while the remaining half was white — these being the colors of the 
 House of Lancaster. What would you say, dear children, if you 
 should see your revered parents thus arrayed, departing for some 
 grand ball or dinner — with the family lions or leopards crawling 
 over their backs, and crosses, shells, ladders, or axes garnishing the 
 fronts of their dignified persons? Such, however, was then the 
 fashion, and I dare say the bustles and " swallow-tails " in which 
 these same heads of households now adorn themselves would be 
 

 MEANING OF " COAT-OF-ARMS." 87 
 
 quite as fit subjects of laughter to the dressy old heroes and heroines 
 of the Middle Ages. 
 
 These heraldic emblems often appeared on the hangings of the 
 walls, upon beds, on covers of books, in stained-glass windows, on 
 stone facades of houses, and even, as in the case of the vain old 
 Marquis of Bute, on the very leaden water-pipes of the castle. 
 
 So we have learned why the word " Heraldry " was selected to 
 indicate this old spur to manly effort ; and we have also learned 
 what is meant by " coats-of-arms," — and now I am sure you would 
 like to know when such devices were assumed — when the knights 
 began to ornament the faces of their shields, and to embroider 
 with all sorts of beasts and birds their surcoats and the trappings 
 of their horses. A knight was a very imposing looking personage, 
 when, in the full panoply of war, mounted upon his gayly bedecked 
 horse, and followed by his long retinue of vassals, all wearing 
 the badge of his house, he sallied forth to join his sovereign in 
 his distant wars. Now, when did it first become a settled custom 
 for chivalric Europe to so array itself in this fantastic dress? I 
 think we had better agree with a very learned gentleman of 
 Europe, who loves the science of heraldry so much better than 
 do either you or I that he has given a long life to the study of 
 it. This person assures us that about the time of the second Cru- 
 sade, during the twelfth century, the symbols or devices that the 
 various knights had assumed began to pass from father to son. 
 Before this time either the animals used for such decoration failed 
 to appear in the approved heraldic grotesquery of position, or else 
 they were laid aside by the " Young America " spirit of even those 
 ancient days ; the sons preferring to assume a different device and 
 
88 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 bring glory to it rather than appear shadowed by a predecessor's 
 glory. 
 
 But before we look very sharply at these coats-of-arms, as we see 
 them in Polly's treasure-box, let us remember that we ought to pay 
 a little attention to the mother of all these manifold forms by which 
 heraldic devices can be displayed. The flag, as we have already 
 seen, was the beginning of all heraldic vagaries, and is the healthiest 
 member of the emaciated "science" to-day. That, at least, flour- 
 ishes as well in republican soil as it does in the hottest of monarchi- 
 cal hot-beds. The flag of William the Conqueror, on which it is 
 said two of the English lions seemed, as the wind blew the fold this 
 way and that, to tear and rend each other, was the forerunner of 
 civilization for the English nation. It was accompanied by various 
 other banners, and his loving wife Matilda, with her ladies, embroid- 
 ered the effigies of many on that famous piece of work which I fear 
 no Decorative Art Society of the present day will ever succeed in 
 rivalling, the Bayeux Tapestry. 
 
 The ensign of Hengist and Horsa still stretches his legs on the 
 chalky hills of southern England. There it lingers as a memorial 
 of the old days when the south of England was so frequently pil- 
 laged by its warlike neighbors. Its " lingering," however, is due to 
 the muscle and good " elbow-grease " of the farmers in the sur- 
 rounding country, who yearly scrape the grass from the stratum of 
 chalk that underlies the slight surface soil. He also capers about 
 on the shield of Brunswick Hanover, apparently as youthful and 
 full of equine spirit as when Odin first vaulted upon his back. The 
 wiseacres, who are all the time trying to detract from the fame of 
 our beloved heroes in history, smile at our belief that Hengist and 
 
MEANING OF " COAT-OF-ARMS. 
 
 89 
 
 Horsa were the names of invading warriors, who did their best to 
 conquer England, and aver that they were really not the names of 
 those daring marauder chieftains, but the names were given to them 
 by the terrified Britons from the banner that they bore. This 
 standard was first carried by the chief called Horsa, and on it was 
 the device of the war horse belonging to Odin, the Scandinavian 
 God of War. Afterwards he who was styled Hengist adopted the 
 ambling horse of Odin as his standard ; he pushed his conquests 
 beyond the shores of England, and setting his banner in the centre 
 of a conquered town, it became known as Canterbury ! This horse 
 is rampant — an attitude which at that time was called the " canter " 
 or Canterbury gallop, and is now the ensign of the County of Kent. 
 
 This White Horse of the Saxons, which appears upon a red 
 shield, at one time belonged to Westphalia, and for many hundreds 
 of years has been displayed by the House of Brunswick. 
 
 Wittekind bore on his banner a black horse, but when converted 
 by the eloquence of Charlemagne to Christianity, 
 he changed it to a white charger — thus show- 
 ing the purity of his new faith. 
 
 But these were standards that existed long 
 before the days of Heraldry, and so we cannot 
 pay them that attention that their great age 
 really entitles them to expect. We have spoken 
 of our own bright flag, but not a word have we said of the one that 
 flies — so the owners boast — forever in the sun ! England's many 
 colonies are so scattered over the world that there is reason for the 
 boast. On so many spots of this round globe of ours her flag is 
 set that the sun never ceases to shine upon her crosses of red, 
 
 Brunswick. 
 
90 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 white, and blue. But why does she call her well known marine 
 flag " The Union Jack," and why is St. George the favored saint of 
 England, when formerly the good St. Edward was the hero whose 
 name inspired a holy zeal within the English bosom ? Two tales 
 can be told about this saintly individual, and the one which is 
 really not at all to the saint's credit is the first that we will relate, 
 as we can then blot out the memory of it by telling the other, 
 which is far more satisfactory to the English heart. It seems, 
 according to this legend, that St. George was originally a sort of 
 contractor of bacon for the army, and, although greater saints have 
 risen from much smaller beginnings, still it seems to be rather to his 
 disadvantage that he was associated with this particular article of 
 commerce. But selling bacon was the least of his crimes ; he is re- 
 puted to have been a rogue — an informer — and getting rich, as such 
 scamps often do ; inquiries were set on foot, the results of which 
 were that to preserve his soul inside of his skin he was compelled 
 to make a precipitate departure from his native land. He managed 
 — clever knave that he was — to carry his money-bags with him, 
 however, and turning Armenian, became so righteous in all outward 
 appearance that he was even made Bishop of Alexandria, in Egypt. 
 But in later days (361) his Nemesis overtook him, and he was 
 clapped into prison ; from there an excited mob managed to drag 
 him to a convenient spot, and lynched him. 
 
 This infamous tale we will not believe. Of course no such old 
 reprobate — one who would "sell his country for a cake " — could 
 possibly be England's knightly saint. Our other legend tells us 
 that in the same Cappadocia where this worldly hypocrite of a St. 
 George was born, and at about the same time, another St. George 
 

 MEANING OF " COAT-OF-ARMS." 91 
 
 appeared. He grew up as pious as he was knightly, but though he 
 valorously tore down certain decrees against the churches of Nico- 
 media that had been posted up in some public place, and thus 
 incurred the wrath of the great Caesar, who as a punishment 
 had him put to death with great tortures, still the acts of his 
 Christian life were so little known that after his canonization it 
 seemed necessary to introduce a number of interesting little anec- 
 dotes in order to make his career seem really worthy of the exalted 
 place he holds in the calendar. So Greek, Latin, and Moslem saints 
 industriously set to work, and the result of their imaginative work 
 is very nearly the following little tale. 
 
 His father was a martyr, and after his death the terrified Christian 
 mother took her little child and hurried into Palestine. As early 
 as it was possible for him to do so, St. George entered the army, 
 and at twenty years of age, by the death of his mother, became the 
 possessor of a large fortune. Then the spirit of travel took posses- 
 sion of him, and it so happened that his journeys led him into 
 Lybia; here he found a wealthy town called Silene, near which 
 there was a beautiful pond ; but lovely as nature had made it, it 
 was rendered loathsome by a horrible monster who made his abode 
 beside it. Many a time had companies of armed men attempted to 
 destroy him, but he always drove them back, slaying many of the 
 soldiers. Sometimes he even approached close to the city, and, peer- 
 ing over the walls, sent great puffs of his dreadful and poisonous 
 breath into the streets of the afflicted town. To propitiate him, 
 and to keep him from repeating these knee-knocking, blood-curdling 
 visits, it was decided by the inhabitants to make him a daily present 
 of two sheep. This did very well for a time, but presently all the 
 
92 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 flocks not only became thinned and diminished in size, but they 
 vanished entirely. The dragon had eaten them all up ! What was 
 to be done? The hungry horror began his daily visits, and his 
 scorching breath became the prevailing wind of the district. The 
 citizens gathered together and decided that, flocks and herds having 
 been exhausted, lots must be drawn among the people themselves ! 
 One day, to the great agony of the king, the lot fell upon his only 
 child. Bad it was to lose the cattle and the sheep, and worse was 
 it to see his subjects eaten up — but his only child — his little 
 golden-haired, laughing daughter — oh, no, that never, never could 
 be, and the king in his frenzy offered all his gold and silver, with 
 half his realm thrown in, if they would excuse her from the feast. 
 But the hollow-eyed mob shrieked, " No ! " If his daughter was 
 not eaten, did he not know that some one else's would have to be ? 
 All that his entreaties could extract from them was a respite of 
 eight days, which the maiden might devote to saying her prayers 
 and bracing herself up for the ordeal. Meanwhile, the enraged 
 monster came with greater frequency to the walls of the city, and 
 blew bigger draughts of his horrid breath twice and thrice a day 
 over the wretched people, killing more than ever. The tormented 
 inhabitants now threatened to murder all the royal household if the 
 doomed maiden did not forthwith proceed to meet her fate. So at 
 length the damsel robed herself for the sacrifice ; and though it can- 
 not be supposed that she went with a hop, skip, and jump, still out 
 she sallied through the gates to meet her fate. She slowly wended 
 her way towards the evil beast, who sat smacking his lips and roll- 
 ing his tongue in fond anticipation of this delicately fed and dainty 
 creature, this tidbit that was to slide down his cavernous maw. 
 

 MEANING OF "CO AT-OF-ARMS." 93 
 
 Just at this moment, the future saint, George of Cappadocia, came 
 riding by, and, the beauty of the weeping maiden attracting him, he 
 paused to ask the cause of her grief. She told her tale, and then, 
 noticing that the dragon had risen and was slowly wriggling himself 
 forward, she bade him fly for his life, as the terrible creature always 
 liked two for dinner better than one. At this the knight smiled, 
 and, turning towards the monster, rushed, spear in hand, upon the 
 beast, and, utterly destroying him, cleft his head from his body, 
 and brought it smoking hot into the public square of the now 
 huzzaing town. 
 
 From there he went to Rome, but soon after his arrival a massacre 
 of Christians was instituted. Our hero, being most holy in his life 
 and character, decided, after distributing all his wealth among the 
 suffering poor of his own faith, to boldly tell the Emperor that he, 
 St. George, was one of the hated sect. He was a valiant and fear- 
 less knight, and, before condemning him to death, the Emperor 
 allowed him a chance for his life by bidding him once more to sac- 
 rifice to the gods. This he refused to do, and was directly sentenced 
 to death. After being driven into prison, he was accordingly sav- 
 agely thrust at with spears by his executioners. Such weapons 
 ought surely to have caused his death, but they snapped like straws 
 when touching his body. This was somewhat of a surprise, but 
 there were other means by which to destroy malefactors, so they 
 fastened him by his hands and feet to posts, a heavy stone was laid 
 upon his body, and his executioners waited to see him flatten out, 
 and to hear his last groan. They waited, — but he continued to 
 look plump and rosy, while his breath came and went as regular as 
 clock-work. This also was discouraging, and they concluded to 
 
94 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 allow a night to intervene before binding him to a wheel set with 
 sharp blades and knives. Such an instrument they felt sure would 
 make an end of him ; but an angel was seen to hover suddenly over 
 his head, and St. George, raising an arm that should have been stiff 
 in death, saluted him most courteously after the military fashion 
 of the day. He was immediately removed from the wheel, and 
 although they examined him carefully, not a wound could they find 
 that was not perfectly healed. In great wrath they then threw him 
 into a pit of quicklime, but that seemed to be as comfortable for 
 the holy man as a bath of warm water, so, dragging him out of it, 
 they tried boiling oil ; still his skin was as free from signs of fire 
 after passing through this ordeal as it was before. Now his feet were 
 put in red-hot iron shoes, and he was bade to run a race, which he 
 did to the admiration of all beholders. The fury of his persecutors 
 reached its height, and an iron box was produced, lined with sharp 
 pointed nails. In this he was laid and then flung down a precipice. 
 By this time his executioners were suspicious of the results of even 
 such a life-destroying medium ; they worked their way carefully 
 down to the foot of the cliff, pried open the ugly box, when, Great 
 Jupiter ! out jumped the saint, as smiling, too, and as forgiving as a 
 saint should be, while not a gash was visible in his flesh ! Then they 
 dragged him up the hill and scourged him with thongs of hide till 
 his flesh fell in flakes from off his back. This was encouraging, but 
 the next day nothing was to be seen but the scars. Two cups of 
 poison were now given him to drink, one to drive him mad, and the 
 other to kill him, but they proved to be like milk and honey to the 
 saint, he being mercifully preserved, though he obligingly drank off 
 the contents of both without a moment's hesitation. At this time he 
 

 MEANING OF " COAT-OF-ARMS." 95 
 
 had the opportunity given him to restore to life both a dead man and 
 an ox recently slaughtered, which he did, and by these miracles con- 
 verted many. But that night, in a dream, St. George saw the 
 Saviour approach him with a golden crown, which he laid upon his 
 head, and, smiling approvingly upon him, bade him prepare for 
 Paradise. Upon awakening, St. George called his faithful servant, 
 who wrote these memoirs, to him, and commanded him after his 
 death to carry his body and his will to Palestine. 
 
 The next day, by making the sign of the cross, he forced the 
 devil that dwelt inside the statue of Apollo to confess aloud that 
 he was only a fallen angel ; and immediately all the statues of the 
 other gods fell down. This last miracle converted not only forty 
 thousand nine hundred men, but the very wife of the Emperor. 
 The sovereign was now so tired and exhausted with his efforts to 
 destroy his seemingly deathless prisoner, that he turned in his 
 exasperation upon his wife, and put her to death, and managed to 
 send with her soul that of the much-suffering saint — probably by 
 means of the cross depicted on the English flag. The two liberated 
 spirits ascended together, and, as they did so, a whirlwind of fire 
 suddenly enveloped the barbarous Emperor, and he was carried — 
 we will not ask where — but he was never seen again on earth. 
 
 During the Crusades, when the Lion-Hearted King, with his 
 army, arrived at the gates of Jerusalem, this valiant saint appeared 
 on the walls of the Holy City, waving his sword, and led him on to 
 a victorious assault. During the fray, St. Michael slipped up beside 
 him, and the two did knightly deeds. Great was the enthusiasm of 
 the Crusaders over this saintly and chivalrous deed of the noble 
 George, and their praises soon placed him at the top of all the 
 
96 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 saints worshipped in Europe, Aragon, Portugal, and England, and 
 most of the chivalrous orders of that day assumed him as their 
 patron. In 1348 King Edward III. founded St. George's Chapel in 
 Windsor. The next year, when he was besieging Calais and strove 
 to stir his soldiers to greater deeds of courage, he brandished his 
 sword above his head, exclaiming, " Ha ! St. Edward ! Ha ! St. 
 George ! " These words so animated his followers that they fell 
 upon the French and routed them completely. From that time 
 Edward the Confessor ceased to be England's favorite saint, and 
 the Holy George became its patron. 
 
 " Thou amongst those saints whom thou dost see, 
 Shall be a saint and thine owne nation's friend 
 And patrone ; thou St. George shall called bee — 
 Saint George of Merrie England, — the sign of victorie!" 
 
 And now, having connected St. George with the red cross that 
 shines out most conspicuously on the English flag, we will talk of 
 the two remaining crosses that underlie it. The white one belongs 
 to St. Andrew. His history runs thus : — 
 
 In 1248, so the old historians, who are fond of legendary lore, 
 have written, the Christian allies were besieging the walls of Seville, 
 and in order to accomplish their purpose, many and diverse were 
 the means they used ; among other war machines, they had the sal- 
 tire, or scaling ladder, and by means of it they clambered to the top 
 of the walls. This was successfully accomplished upon St. Andrew's 
 Day, and they ordered Te Deums to be sung in all the churches, 
 glorifying the benign saint. Not only did they give him thanks, 
 but vowed " that from thenceforth as well they as their posterity, in 
 tyme of war, should wear a cross of St. Andrew as their badge and 
 
MEANING OF " COAT-OF-AKMS." 97 
 
 cognizance." Afterwards the conquerors converted the inhabitants 
 of Seville, and the Archbishop put the saltire on the banner of St. 
 Andrew. Gradually it grew upon the people that a saltire — a 
 species of scaling ladder — was scarcely a fit emblem to put upon 
 the banner of a saint; it would be better to style it a cross, 
 and there was formed a story of the good St. Andrew having 
 suffered death upon a cross of that form. As no one has ever 
 been proved to have met his death in such an uncomfortable 
 way, we cannot believe that either he or St. Patrick, who, it is 
 likewise said, had to perish in a similar way, were ever executed 
 on such crosses. 
 
 But the Scots regard the cross with peculiar veneration. The 
 old Highlanders used to repeat, as a miracle in which their grand- 
 fathers for generations back believed, that somewhere in that inter- 
 esting, legend-creating age, the ninth century, when Hungus was 
 the king of the Picts in Scotland, he was about to engage in battle 
 with a formidable host of enemies. The night before, he had a 
 vision, and in it saw the Apostle St. Andrew, who comforted his 
 heart by promising victory to his army, and, that he might put un- 
 doubted faith in this assurance, told him that above the heads of his 
 Pictish followers the Saltire Cross upon which he died should be 
 distinctly seen in the blue sky. Not only did Hungus's believing 
 eyes behold the sign, but those of the entire army beheld the sym- 
 bol, and the soldiers, rushing upon the enemy, soon had the pleasure 
 of seeing them vanish into a handful of fleeing, panic-stricken 
 men. 
 
 The third cross is that of St. Patrick of Ireland. These three 
 crosses form the " Union Jack." 
 
98 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 But this " Union Jack " considers itself as a badly treated 
 banner, and in an English newspaper a few years ago sighed out the 
 following lament : — 
 
 PITY POOR JACK. 
 
 Sir : — I am not a grumbler, though I am treated very badly. How, sir, may I ask, 
 would you like to be hung up by your heels ? or how would any of your readers like 
 to stand on their heads for a week together ? And yet I, who am, with the exception 
 of my cousin, the Standard, the most noble bit of bunting in the world, am, even in 
 the loyal county of Hertford, constantly displayed upside down, and am thus turned 
 from a symbol of rejoicing into a signal of distress, and all because the descendants 
 of those who marcbed and sailed under me to victory will not take the trouble to find 
 out how I ought to be hoisted. 
 
 But, sir, I should probably have gone on and suffered in silence, if I had not come 
 
 across the following paragraph in your paper of November 16 : "Mr. had two 
 
 Union Jacks — the red and the white." How, sir, could you, being a blue, mistake my 
 children, the ensigns, for me ? I will, therefore, give a short sketch of my history. 
 
 Long before I was known to the world as Jack, I was the banner of St. George. I 
 was a white flag with a red cross ; thus I flew at Agincourt ; thus I appear at corona- 
 tions and a few other state occasions ; and tbus I denote the presence of an English 
 Admiral. 
 
 In 1606, the Banner of St. Andrew — Azure ; a Saltire Argent (blue, with white 
 diagonal cross) was united to that of St. George by virtue of a royal ordinance given 
 on April 12, 4 Jac. I. Heralds thus described me then: — "The Cross of St. An- 
 drew, surmounted by that of St. George, the latter fimbriated argent" (i.e., bordered 
 white). 
 
 I continued in this state until the 1st January, 1801, when upon the Union with 
 Ireland it became necessary to incorporate the Cross of St. Patrick — Argent; a Saltire 
 gules (white, a red diagonal cross) ; and I am thus described in a royal proclamation 
 of that date: — "Azure ; the crosses saltire of Saint Andrew and Saint Patrick, 
 quarterly per saltire, counterchanged argent and gules ; the latter fimbriated, and the 
 second surmounted by the cross of Saint George, of the third, fimbriated as the 
 
 saltire." 
 
 In 1606, the heralds departed from their own rules in forming me. Instead of 
 quartering my two crosses they endeavored to make them into one. The heralds of 
 1801 followed their example ; and the result is that I am now a heraldic absurdity; 
 though, having flown over so many glorious fights, probably no attempt to alter me 
 would succeed. Sir Harris Nicolas tried to get me slightly altered in 1832 ; he wanted 
 
MEANING OF " COAT-OF-ARMS." 99 
 
 me to appear as I do on the bronze coinage, where I am represented wrongly, though 
 perhaps sensibly, thus : — The Cross of Saint Andrew, surmounted by that of Saint 
 Patrick, over all the Cross of Saint George, fimbriated argent. But I have not been 
 rearranged yet, and I don't suppose I ever shall be, so I will try to describe myself in 
 plain English. I am a blue flag, divided into four quarters by a red cross, with a nar- 
 row white border. Each quarter is divided by a red diagonal bar, with white border, 
 from centre to centre ; but the borders are not of equal width, those nearest the staff 
 being broad above and narrow beloio, those in my fly, i. e., in my second and fourth 
 quarters, being narrow above and broad below. Therefore, sir, if any of your loyal 
 readers have occasion to hoist me, I hope they will see that the broad white border of 
 the diagonal cross is uppermost, next the staff. 
 
 One word more, and I have done. " Hoist me right up" ; don't have me flying 
 four or five inches from the staff-head. I have to fly half-mast sometimes, and it is 
 hard to be made to do so on occasions of rejoicing. — I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 Union Jack. 
 
 The term " Jack " is supposed, to have originated in the name of 
 King James, or " Jacques." As for the " Union " — the united 
 kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, gave rise to that. 
 
 St. Cuthbert's Banner was at one time, perhaps, the most re- 
 nowned of all the English flags. The Holy Saint Cuthbert was 
 supposed to watch over the interests of Durham Cathedral, and the 
 banner was kept during times of peace in sacred seclusion in the 
 Abbey. When carried to battle, it was borne by a monk of Dur- 
 ham. On the top of the staff was a little silver cross, and on the 
 
 p 
 
 centre of a large banner-cloth was a piece of white velvet, half a 
 yard square, and upon that a cross of silver velvet was laid. 
 Within this white velvet was the holy relique with which the 
 holy Saint Cuthbert covered the chalice when he said mass, and 
 the residue of the banner-cloth was of crimson velvet, most sump- 
 tuously embroidered with gold and silk. This banner was sup- 
 posed, owing to the presence of this notable relique, to carry 
 success wherever it was borne. Through its virtue victory was 
 
100 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 gained by an early king of Scotland, who happened to spend a night 
 at Durham on his way to expel a usurper. Here he had a vision 
 — visions and miracles, I think you must have already noticed, were 
 matters of every-day occurrence in these early ages — and in this 
 vision he heard a whisper in his ear by some ghostly visitant, — St. 
 Cuthbert himself, it is more than likely, — which bade him possess 
 himself of the precious banner if he wished success. This he 
 managed to do ; and the rebels were soon either hanging from the 
 trees, or hiding amid their bushes. It is even said that when the 
 Earl of Surrey approached Flodden Field, he tarried long enough 
 to get the banner well started with his host, before venturing to 
 encounter King James and his army of tough, resolute moun- 
 taineers. 
 
 This celebrated banner finally vanished from scenes like these 
 through the fingers of the Catholic wife of one of the Deans of 
 Durham. She made a fire, seized the banner, and that was the 
 end to all benevolent efforts of good St. Cuthbert through the 
 agency of banners. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 STORIES ABOUT FLAGS, CONTINUED, AND DESCRIPTION OF AN 
 "ACHIEVEMENT" — ORIGIN OF TITLES. 
 
 Some of the flags of France have been very famous; such as 
 the Tricolor. It is thought to represent the Blue Banner of St. 
 Martin, the Red Banner of St. Denis, and the " Cornette blanche." 
 Blue and red were the ancient colors of Paris, and of these colors 
 the cockade was at first made, but the National Guard, which was 
 not unfavorable to the throne, insisted upon having the white of the 
 Bourbon standard added, and in this way the Tricolor was formed. 
 Would you like to hear how it was that Paris chose blue and 
 red for her colors? If so, I will tell the story just as somebody 
 else has told it. Some day, after riding down the Champs Elyse*es 
 to the once beautiful gardens of the Tuileries, past the showy 
 arcades of the Rue de Rivoli, on and on, till you come to the soar- 
 ing Column of July, with the gracefully poised figure on its apex, 
 you may like to recall it : — 
 
 " About 1356, during the captivity of John of France in the 
 Tower of London, Paris became a republic, and the municipality gov- 
 erned all France. At this time it was decided that the city of Paris 
 should have colors of its own, and under the authority of Etienne 
 Marcel a flag was selected, half blue and half red, with an agraffe of 
 silver, and the motto, 'A bonne fin." Shortly after, when Etienne 
 Marcel was murdered with sixty of his followers, the colors of the 
 city were suppressed, and remained in obscurity until 1789. Upon 
 
 101 
 
102 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 the accession of Charles V., he erected the Bastille St. Antoine, on 
 the very spot where Etienne Marcel had been slain, as a monument 
 of defiance On the part of the crown against the capital, which re- 
 mained for centuries a state prison and symbol of despotism. By a 
 singular coincidence, the Bastille was destroyed on the anniversary 
 of the day on which the ancient colors of Paris — the colors of 
 Etienne Marcel — became victorious over royalty. On that day, 
 July 14, 1789, Lafayette restored the colors of the city to the 
 people, adding thereto the royal emblem, white, and thus composed 
 that tricolor which, according to Lafayette's prophetic words, 
 ^ Dev ait fair e le tour du monde /' " 
 
 Another highly prized flag, and one much older than the Tri- 
 color, is that of St. Martin. This was the standard of the nation 
 for six hundred years, and was made of that half of the saint's 
 remarkable blue mantle which remained to cover his chilly person 
 after dividing the original cloak with his sword, so as to give a cov- 
 ering to the freezing beggar at the gates of Amiens. This half of 
 his cloak, so valued by the French, never showed signs of decay 
 during many centuries ; even the moths of this monastery being 
 far too good Catholics to even think of attacking the sacred, 
 carefully guarded bit of woollen. The little oratory in which it 
 was preserved — this cloak or cape, or, in French, chape — acquired 
 from the treasure it held the name of chapelle, and the person 
 who cared for it was called chapelain — and thus, we are told, 
 arose our English words chapel and chaplain. 
 
 Somehow, a sleeve of this precious mantle seems to have detached 
 itself from the incorruptible garment, and managed to do a deal of 
 travelling about. Not infrequently it got into trouble, as wayward 
 
STORIES ABOUT FLAGS. 103 
 
 members of a well brought up household usually do. It carried on 
 in such a way that at last it was claimed by no less than three 
 churches, and so violent and unyielding was the altercation that the 
 dispute lasted for sixty long years. Then the Count of La Roche- 
 foucauld, getting possession of it one day, ended the matter by most 
 sacrilegiously dropping it on a brazier of coals, thus utterly consum- 
 ing it. The sacred remnants of the cape were placed in a casket, 
 and its effigy, which was carried conspicuously in front of the army 
 when needed, was the richest and most beautiful of all the banners 
 of ancient France. When this standard was to be used, it was laid 
 for several days upon the tomb of the saint, until it was supposed 
 to be perfectly charged with all the holy evaporations of the worthy 
 saint, and was then placed in the hands of the proud Counts of 
 Anjou, who, as Grand Seneschals of France, were the proper flag- 
 bearers of Saint Martin's Flag. 
 
 What finally became of the last blue shreds of the holy garment, 
 I know not ; but eventually the renowned Oriflamme of Saint Denis 
 took its place. This was of red, as all banners of churches dedi- 
 cated to martyrs ought to be, the color signifying not only war, but 
 suffering — and was fringed with green, to typify their hope. Origi- 
 nally it was flecked with golden flames, thought to have been placed 
 there as a memorial of the Day of Pentecost. The " fly," or edge, 
 was cut in five points, to represent the five wounds of our Saviour. 
 The standard-bearer of this victory-gaining flag always, before 
 receiving it, confessed, partook of the Eucharist, and swore to 
 defend it with his life. This flag had the glory of making its first 
 appearance upon the battlefield at Agincourt. 
 
 As soon as the war was ended, for which the aid of the flag was 
 
104 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 invoked, it was always the duty of the king, who had taken it from 
 the Cathedral of St. Denis, to carry it back himself. In one battle 
 with the Flemings, when Philip Van Arteveldte was slain, an old 
 chronicler tells us of the magical effects of the flag: — 
 
 " It was a most excellent banner, and had been sent from heaven 
 with great mystery. It is a sort of gonfanon, and is of much com- 
 fort in the day of battle to those who see it. Proof was made of 
 its virtues at this time ; for all the morning there was so thick a fog 
 that with difficulty could they see each other, but the moment the 
 knight had displayed it, and raised his lance in the air, the fog 
 instantly disappeared." 
 
 This banner is said to have been destroyed during the lively anti- 
 monarchial days of the First Revolution in France, but some one 
 has declared that should you chance to visit the old Abbey Church 
 of St. Denis some day, you may see it hanging from the eastern 
 extremity, near the high altar. 
 
 After this flag came the " cornette blanche." This was a plain 
 white banner, and was a symbol of the Virgin Mary. It was borne 
 by Henry IV. at the Battle of Ivry, when the king — 
 
 " Bound a snow-white plume upon his gallant crest" ; 
 and cautioned his followers : — 
 
 " And if my standard-bearer fall, as fall full well he may, 
 For never saw I promise yet of such a bloody fray, 
 Press where ye see my white plume shine amid the ranks of war, 
 And be your Oriflamme to-day the helmet of Navarre." 
 
 Afterwards it was powdered with golden fleurs-de-lys. Later the 
 color of the flag was changed to blue, and all but three of the 
 golden lilies taken away. 
 
STORIES ABOUT FLAGS AND CRESTS. 105 
 
 I believe that the most recent national flag that has appeared in 
 Europe is that of the German Empire. It originated when Barba- 
 rossa was crowned in Frankfurt Cathedral (1152). The entire 
 roadway from the Romer Palace, where the gay doings were going 
 on, to the Cathedral, where the solemnity of coronation took place, 
 was covered with a gorgeous carpeting of red, black, and gold. 
 After the ceremonies were over, the carpet was given to the people, 
 who slit it into innumerable pieces, and carried them as flags 
 through the city. A little later and these colors were adopted as 
 the German colors, and so remained until Napoleon's victories in 
 1806. About the middle of this century they were again produced, 
 but the question as to which color should form the upper and most 
 honorable one arose. Some one suggested, " Powder is black, blood 
 is red, and golden flickers the flame ; that is the old imperial stand- 
 ard." King Friedrich Wilhelm II. decided it in this little line : — 
 
 "From night, through blood, to light." 
 
 and so the colors are now displayed. 
 
 The significance of flags is not always noticed, but it adds to 
 their interest, as in the banner of the Italians, hoisted at Venice in 
 1848, and consecrated by the Patriarch of Venice, glorious in his 
 scarlet gown and cap, and flashing with his diamond crosses; at 
 this ceremony America alone was invited to be present. 
 
 "Red for the patriot's blood, 
 Green for the martyr's crown, 
 White for tbe dew and the rime, 
 When the morning of God comes down." 
 
 So having had this introduction to Old Mother Flag and to her 
 most interesting family — and having had a peek through the 
 
106 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 palings of the ancient tournament-grounds, let us take up one of 
 Polly's pretty pictures and give it a good look. Here is one where 
 all that is necessary to form a perfect " Achievement," or coat-of- 
 arms, can be seen. First we will notice the shield, and we see that 
 resting upon it is a helmet ; upon this helmet rests a crown, with 
 a sort of ragged veil flowing from it, over the helmet. This is 
 called the mantling. On either side of the shield stand two figures, 
 whose feet rest upon a scroll that runs under the shield, and on 
 which the motto, if there is one, is written. High above the shield, 
 and rising from a wreath, is the crest. The badge does not appear 
 upon an Achievement. 
 
 All of these little adornments have a meaning; and before we 
 hear the tales that the shield has to tell us, we will try to under- 
 stand what the minor ornaments mean. " Minor, indeed ! " exclaims 
 the outraged crest, fairly quivering with indignation. " Was I not 
 placed far beyond the shield in the estimation of the warrior knights 
 in the good old days ! Could any one display me unless they had 
 won the right to do so on the battlefield ! Minor, indeed ! " 
 
 Dear, dear ! what an uproar that crest is making ! Such a 
 simple remark as that of mine — who could have dreamed that it 
 could have hurt the feelings of any one ! Of course, the crest is 
 honorable, very honorable ; and it was only to the helmet, the coro- 
 net, and such trifling things, that I referred. This I say in a whisper, 
 for if they too show such jealousy as does this arrogant crest, we 
 shall have anarchy reigning supreme, and you will never hear a 
 single one of all the interesting legends that most of them can tell. 
 But the crest is shaking its feathers and carrying on in such a 
 dreadful way that I am sure it will interrupt us every moment 
 
STORIES ABOUT FLAGS AND CRESTS. 107 
 
 unless we ask her forgiveness and tell her we are dying to have her 
 open up her store of queer stories. We know very well how nobly 
 it used to conduct itself in the red days of strife and bloodshed, 
 inspiring fresh courage simply by its appearance when flying from 
 the helmet of some idolized and trusted commander. But, with all 
 respect to its feelings, let it be said, it has never been known to 
 ward off a blow from its possessor, as the shield with its dinted and 
 hacked appearance clearly shows it often has ; and its introduction 
 into the collection of ornaments that now decorates the silver, paper, 
 and carriages of all noble families was of much later date than that 
 of the shield. But, when it was introduced, we acknowledge with 
 all haste that its possession was considered a higher distinction than 
 that of simply displaying the shield. A crest (see ! it is growing 
 good-tempered now) could, in early days, only be borne by a knight 
 who had known what it was to win honor on the battle-field, whereas 
 the shield could be passed from father to son. This now has all 
 changed, and, with the rest of the owners' insignia, belongs to the 
 son as well as to the father. Yet the crest still insists upon certain 
 restrictions in its use, it having a good deal of the crusty old bache- 
 lor in its composition. We Americans set its rules at defiance, and 
 do as we choose ; but the English ladies are not permitted to use the 
 crest — that is the prerogative of the " man of the family " alone. 
 The importance attached to the ability to display the crest is easily 
 recognizable by the way in which it appears upon the seals of 
 the old "noblesse." Certainly there, at least, it bears but little 
 resemblance to a "minor ornament," towering as it does above 
 the almost microscopic shield. The unfortunate shield looks 
 like some poor little hen-pecked husband, half hidden by the 
 
108 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 voluminous skirts of an Amazonian sort of a wife. You can 
 almost hear him cry. 
 
 The first crest given by a king to a subject was that of an Eagle, 
 which Edward III. bestowed as a mark of high favor upon a Mon- 
 tagu — or Montacute, as the name used to be spelled — the Earl of 
 Salisbury. With it he gave him a goodly estate, so that the honor 
 was not an empty one. 
 
 " Crest " is a word that in Latin means the comb or tuft that 
 grows upon the head of many birds, and chieftains used these crests 
 as a proud distinction upon their helmets. When not made of 
 feathers, it is supposed to have been made of boiled leather, light, 
 and susceptible of any shape desired, and many were the curious 
 conceits which were embodied in its form. 
 
 In Germany, they regard the crest even more highly than we do, 
 as with every marriage between noble families where a new quarter- 
 ing is grafted on to the family shield, the crest of the wife is super- 
 imposed on those already belonging to the shield. But in France 
 the crest is quite neglected, so that many families never display 
 it. Even in England there are many coats-of-arms where the 
 crest is missing, although the reason for such an omission is not at 
 all from lack of desire to have it. 
 
 The crest is always represented as rising from a wreath of six 
 strands of twisted silk, used in memory of the admiration with 
 which the turbaned heads of the hostile Saracens were regarded by 
 the Crusaders. 
 
 Many of the crests borne by Englishmen have curious stories 
 connected with their origin ; and one such is the legend of the 
 Stanley crest, belonging to Lord Derby. According to this, we are 
 
STORIES ABOUT FLAGS AND CRESTS. 109 
 
 to believe that there was once a good old knight called Lord 
 Latham, who lived with his wife in Latham Hall. He had grown 
 old, and at the time of our story both he and his wife were not far 
 from four-score years, and yet no little feet had ever pattered 
 through their halls, and no din of children's voices had either 
 fretted or gladdened the hearing of the good old couple. They 
 loved each other dearly, but ah, how they grieved to die without an 
 heir of their very own. A stranger would squander what they 
 with so much care had hoarded, and alien occupants would fill the 
 grand old hall. Back of the castle stretched a dense forest called 
 Ferlistowe Wood, through whose tangled underbrush none but 
 woodsmen ever forced their way. These woodsmen, however, as 
 well as all other retainers of the old noble, knew how he nHJurned 
 his lonely condition, and sympathized with him in his grief. One 
 day, while busily engaged in felling trees, one of these men discov- 
 ered, to his intense amazement, that in an eagle's nest, where lay 
 three fine young eaglets, was a new-born babe, " swaddled and clad in 
 robes of red," — evidently a treasure just brought by the mother bird 
 to whet the appetites of her young brood. The news of this surpris- 
 ing discovery being brought immediately to the lord, he rode with 
 all the speed that he could make into the wood. There, to be sure, 
 carefully guarded by the wood-chopper, lay the babe in the strange 
 society of the little birds. Stooping down, he lifted the weeping 
 child in his arms, and, bearing it straightway to his wife, they 
 adopted it as their own, making it the darling of the house. A 
 linen cloth filled with salt was fastened about its neck, according to 
 the custom then prescribed with children who had not been bap- 
 tized, so they had it christened Oskell, and he became their heir. 
 
110 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 Sir Oskell grew up a wise and good man, married, and became the 
 lord of the castle. He had one daughter, the beautiful Isabella, 
 with whom, after she was grown, Sir John Stanley fell in love and 
 stole away one stormy night. But the father forgave them, and 
 eventually left them all his great estates. The child in the eagle's 
 nest became the well known Stanley crest, and the eagle's leg was 
 taken for the badge. Another extremely interesting crest is that of 
 Lord Aberdeen. It is associated with the death of the Lion-Hearted 
 King of England. His French possessions were very dear to the 
 English king, and shortly before his death he was in France, engaged 
 in one of the tussles with the French king, that were so common 
 during the years when England maintained her right to certain 
 provinces in the north of France. He was bringing the difficulty of 
 the moment to a favorable close for English claims, when he learned 
 that one of his vassals, the Viscount of Limoges, had discovered a 
 treasure, and, with the hope that his liege lord might not hear 
 thereof, was holding it for a while in his castle of Chalus. But the 
 world is full of ears that hear, of feet that carry, and of tongues that 
 tell all news, both good and bad, so it was not long before Richard 
 was made aware of the secreted treasure. He posted a messenger 
 off, without any delay, therefore, to his perfidious subject, demand- 
 ing it to be sent to him forthwith. The Viscount, though wrathful 
 that his good luck should have become known to the king, and 
 having forty good ways of spending the money himself, still did not 
 dare to entirely refuse the king's demand, so he filled sacks with half 
 the amount, and, loading them on the back of a mule, sent them to 
 the king. If he expected this would be satisfactory, Richard soon 
 disabused him of such an idea. The Viscount then remonstrated, 
 
Stanley. 
 
STORIES ABOUT FLAGS AND CRESTS. Ill 
 
 saying that "Gold treasure belongs to the liege lord; silver is 
 divided." At this the king issued marching orders to his army, and 
 before long they were encamped before the refractory noble in his 
 castle. The garrison defended it as best they could, but, not antici- 
 pating the attack, or the king's appearance being more sudden than 
 it was supposed possible, the provisioning of the castle had not been 
 completed. They offered, therefore, to capitulate. But the king? 
 whose temper was never under the best of control, had become so 
 exasperated that he swore he would take the place by storm and 
 hang every varlet in it. When this answer was received, the 
 miserable garrison resolved to defend itself to the death. One 
 young archer, peering through some loop-hole, spied the king and 
 one of his generals examining some point of attack, and so close to 
 to the castle that they were within bowshot. He was not the man 
 to lose such an opportunity, and, swiftly placing an arrow within his 
 bow, he sent it with such certainty of aim that he struck the king 
 in his shoulder. A surgeon was called, but so unskilful was he 
 that in endeavoring to withdraw the arrow he broke it, and the 
 steel point remained to rankle in the wound. Meanwhile, the castle 
 was stormed and taken, and, as the king had commanded, the sol- 
 diers were put to death. Bertrand de Gourdon, whose hand had 
 laid the king upon his dying bed, was summoned by the monarch to 
 his couch. " Wretch," said he, " what had I done to you, that you 
 should have attempted my life ? " " You have put my father and 
 two brothers to death," was the spirited answer, " and you wanted 
 to have me hanged." The king's brows knit heavily, as he regarded 
 for a few moments the daring young soldier ; then he suddenly ex- 
 claimed, " I forgive you ; let his chains be removed, and let him 
 
112 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 receive one hundred shillings." And with these words the king 
 expired. But so enraged were his generals that they paid no heed 
 to his request, and, in their transports of grief and wrath, took the 
 unlucky prisoner and flayed him alive. The children of Gourdon, 
 terrified at their father's fate, fled to Scotland, and there established 
 this celebrated family of Gordon, afterwards Earls of Aberdeen. 
 
 Another crest is one where the half figure of a woman is con- 
 spicuous. It is borne by the Lyons, Earls of Strathmore. Old Sir 
 John Lyon was so fortunate as to gain the good-will of King 
 Robert IL, and with such great favor did the king grow to regard 
 him that he permitted him to marry his own daughter, the Lady 
 Jane. Such a magnificent alliance could not be permitted to slip 
 by unnoticed, and the family have ever since borne as their crest 
 this figure of a lady, within an arch of laurel and holding a thistle 
 in her hand. 
 
 The crest of the De la Beres was given to the family just at the 
 close of one of the great English and French battles. There is an 
 old, old house in Cheltenham that belonged to them, where, in an 
 ancient painting, Sir Richard de la Bere, Knight Banneret, is repre- 
 sented as receiving his cognizance, the badge and crest of plumes. 
 When the Black Prince was in great danger during the battle of 
 Crecy, this noble knight succeeded in extricating him from his peril- 
 ous position, and, to show his appreciation of his valor, the Prince, 
 at the close of the battle, gave him this crest, resembling his own. 
 The crest can still be seen in the window of the great parlor at 
 Southam. 
 
 An interesting little display of womanly heroism is associated 
 with a crest worn for many years by the Dudleys. It represents a 
 
STORIES ABOUT FLAGS AND CRESTS. 113 
 
 woman with an open helmet and her hair falling about her shoul- 
 ders. The story of this gallant woman's deed so worked upon the 
 imagination and fired the enthusiasm of a solitary monk, living in 
 the shadows of the fourteenth century, that, instead of pattering his 
 Ave Maria, or counting off his Pater Nosters in his lonely cell, he 
 wrote the tale of her exploit. It seems that this fair maiden, whose 
 name was Agnes Hotot, was the loving daughter of a very hot- 
 headed old father. The father had a troublesomely opinionated 
 neighbor, and between them a disagreement arose over the proprie- 
 torship of a certain tract of land. The discussion grew so warm 
 that they finally decided to meet at a certain time upon the disputed 
 ground and settle the quarrel by combat. As ill fortune would 
 have it, the father of Agnes fell sick, and on the appointed day was 
 unable to keep his appointment. "Then," says the good monk, 
 " his daughter Agnes, unwilling that he should lose his claim, or 
 suffer in his honor, armed herself cap-a-pie, and, mounting her 
 father's steed, repaired to the place of decision, where, after a stub- 
 born encounter, she dismounted Ringdale, and, when he was on the 
 ground, she loosened the stay of her helmet, and, letting down her 
 hair about her shoulders, she showed him that he had been con- 
 quered by a woman." This muscular lady became afterwards the 
 heiress of her family, and marrying a Dudley, the crest was assumed 
 and worn by them. 
 
 Sometimes the crests bestowed were not so satisfactory to the 
 gentle spirits of the owners. This, alas ! is said to be the case with 
 that borne b} r the Davenports. The members of this family in 
 Cheshire are about as numerous as the Smiths are in America, and 
 the laughing boys of this county, perched on the fence-posts, or 
 
114 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 loitering on the corners of the streets, delight, as they see one of 
 the well known family approaching, to sing aloud as they prepare 
 to vanish into secure remoteness, — 
 
 ' ' There are as many Leighs as fleas, 
 And Davenports as dog's legs." 
 
 The cross fltche'e on their shield is an evidence of the family 
 having been in some way connected with the Crusades, and the best 
 friends of the family declare that the crest represents the head of a 
 vile infidel Saracen, who was captured by some noble but forgotten 
 ancestor, and for his black crimes was put to death halter-fashion. 
 But others, who probably are the basest of enemies, assure us that, 
 whatever relation the crosses fitchews have with the Holy Wars, the 
 crest alludes to no such noble origin. Quite the contrary ; for it was 
 placed, amid tears and groans, upon the family escutcheon during 
 the Wars of the Roses, when the axe or the rope was the means 
 resorted to for sending a captured enemy to the Better Land. One 
 of the Davenports, during some unlucky skirmish, was carried a 
 prisoner into the enemy's camp, and doomed by his stern conqueror 
 to be hanged on the nearest greenwood tree. Just as the noose was 
 being adjusted, the inventive mind of the victorious captor sug- 
 gested a better punishment, and with an evil smile he bade the 
 executioners pause. He then told the trembling, half-dead Daven- 
 port that he should have his life given him, — death need not be 
 his portion, and that, too, without a penny of ransom being ex- 
 torted ; he need only promise to place the effigy of his own rope- 
 encircled head above the family shield, and to swear, by all that was 
 good and holy, that to the latest generation this crest should be 
 worn by his posterity. 
 
STORIES ABOUT FLAGS AND CRESTS. 115 
 
 The Kirkpatricks, too, whose blood the beautiful one-time Em- 
 press of all France is not ashamed to acknowledge as flowing in her 
 veins, display with Scottish pride the singular crest of a hand hold- 
 ing a knife, from which fall drops of blood. It was in this wise that 
 they claim to have won the right to wear it. When Robert the 
 Bruce was straining every nerve to maintain his right to the throne 
 of Scotland, he chanced to be in Dumfries, and, going into the 
 Gray Friars' Chapel, met the Red Comyn. Words were hastily ex- 
 changed; and Bruce, in a moment of rage, drew his dagger, and, 
 springing upon Comyn, stabbed him to the heart. Then turning, he 
 rushed from the building, seized the bridle of his horse, and was on 
 his back and away from all pursuers, exclaiming hurriedly, as he did 
 so, to the astonished Kirkpatrick, who as a trusty comrade had 
 accompanied him to the door of the chapel, " I doubt I have slain 
 Comyn ! " " You doubt ! " shouted back Kirkpatrick, as he saw the 
 chieftain galloping out of sight; "then I mak sicker" (I'll make 
 sure). So saying he strode into the church and stabbed his wounded 
 enemy to death. An instant later, another horse was flying over the 
 rough hillsides in the track of Robert Bruce. And swift indeed 
 would the riders be who could catch the bold chieftains before they 
 were safe in the trackless glens of their mountain rendezvous. In 
 memory of this, Roger de Kirkpatrick of Closeburne took as his 
 crest the sanguinary one of a hand grasping a dagger, from which 
 fall drops of blood, with the motto, I mak sicker. 
 
 In the crest of the McClellans the sword also appears, with the 
 point piercing a human head ; and it is said that when James the 
 Second of Scotland was master of that kingdom, he was occasion- 
 ally much annoyed by predatory hordes, probably gypsies, but who,. 
 
116 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 as they had dark complexions, were styled Saracens or Moors. They 
 were very troublesome, and, though often beaten back to Ireland, 
 they never failed to return, as filled with the spirit of the marauder 
 as ever. The suffering coasts of Galloway, which knew more of their 
 desolating visits than did other portions of the kingdom, made loud 
 and bitter complaint. The king strove to relieve them, but with 
 such ill success that finally he offered the Barony of Bombie to 
 whoever should be so fortunate as to either kill or capture the chief- 
 tain of these dark robbers. Many resolved to thus enrich them- 
 selves , but, oddly enough, it happened that McClellan, the son of a 
 former laird of Bombie, was the fortunate one who succeeded in so 
 doing. This laird had been dispossessed of his property for some act 
 that did not meet his sovereign's approbation, but the valor of the 
 son restored it to the family. After slaying his antagonist, he cut 
 the head off, and, with it bleeding on the point of his sword, 
 presented it to his sovereign. 
 
 Another crest is that of a castle, and belongs to Sir Hugh Pollok. 
 When the beautiful Mary Queen of Scots was a captive in the 
 strongholds of her powerful and jealous cousin, Queen Elizabeth, 
 and little James VI. of Scotland was but a laughing boy, the Earl 
 of Lennox was made Regent of the Scottish kingdom. The adhe- 
 rents to the cause of the unfortunate queen were numerous, and 
 retained some strong fortresses in her name. Among them was that 
 of Dumbarton Castle. It stood on the crest of an almost precipi- 
 tous rock which rose from the centre of a plain, and was considered 
 almost impregnable. It commanded the river Clyde; and as the 
 mouth of this stream seemed to be one of the best points at which 
 the French could land troops to aid the Catholic Scots, it was deemed 
 
w$S&-*> 
 
 Hamilton 
 
 
 Mc Clelian 
 
 Kirkpatnck 
 
STORIES ABOUT FLAGS AND CHESTS. 117 
 
 important to wrest it from the adherents of Queen Mary. It was 
 apparently so unassailable that the commandant of the fortress did 
 not exercise the usual caution in guarding its ramparts, and trusted 
 too much to its position and strength of wall. One of the privates 
 within the fort had been outraged by treatment that he felt he had 
 not merited, and, nursing his wrath in silence, he made a careful 
 map of the whole fortification, and sent it to the leader of the 
 opposing forces, — the Earl of Lennox, — explaining to him the 
 most practicable way in which to take it. 
 
 Now walks in the hero of our tale and the ancestor of the Pol- 
 loks. His name was Captain Crawford ; he offered to command a 
 small but determined company, that should march from Glasgow 
 upon a certain night, just as the clock should strike twelve. Scal- 
 ing-ladders and other appliances were, with the greatest secrecy, 
 secured, and all the approaches to the castle were cut off, to prevent 
 any possible rumor of the proposed attack from reaching the fort. 
 Then, at the dead of night, out they stole from Glasgow. The moon 
 had set early, and, although the sky up to that time had been star- 
 light clear, a. fog now made the atmosphere thick. They approached 
 the highest and most perpendicular part of the cliff, as they con- 
 cluded that at this supposably least accessible point there would 
 be the least amount of watchfulness shown. The first ladder was 
 placed, but so impetuous and hasty were the besiegers that, too 
 great a number scrambling upon it, down it fell. Fortunately, no 
 one was hurt, and the thickness of the air prevented the garrison 
 being alarmed. Crawford now scrambled part way up the rock, and 
 fastened a ladder in the roots of a tree that grew from a cleft. 
 After great difficulty, the little band managed to reach this spot ; 
 
118 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 but the top of the ladder was, even then, seen to be a long way from 
 the base of the wall. However, up the ladder they started again, 
 and now another accident befell them. Just as one of their number 
 reached the middle round, he was seized with a fit, and clung, appar- 
 ently without life, to the ladder. What should be done? Craw- 
 ford's ingenuity was equal to the emergency ; he hurriedly bound 
 the hands of the unfortunate man to the round, so that when he 
 awoke he should not fall, and then, turning the ladder over, the rest 
 mounted without further trouble. It was now beginning to grow 
 gray in the east, and the wall still remained to scale. But one agile 
 fellow at last managed to reach the parapet, and was preparing to 
 leap upon it when an astounded sentinel caught sight of him. 
 Short time was given him in which to sound an alarm before he was 
 shot down. Another and another scrambling Scot followed the first 
 adventurer over the wall ; and before the half-dressed garrison could 
 do more than spring from its quarters, the castle was in the pos- 
 session of the dauntless little band of men. Not one of Crawford's 
 men had lost his life, and the satisfaction of the victors can be imag- 
 ined. Since that time the crest of Dumbarton Castle, and the 
 motto, " Expugnavi" (I have won it), have been borne by Craw- 
 ford's descendants. 
 
 But besides castles, swords, helmeted ladies, etc., we have lad- 
 ders, foxes, and even trees. The latter adorns the coat-of-arms 
 belonging to the honorable family of Wallers, and was the gift of a 
 captive who rose to the throne of France. During the battle of 
 Agincourt, Sir Richard Waller was so fortunate as to take this 
 monarch, then only Charles, Duke of Orleans, prisoner. At the 
 close of this battle he took his captive with him back to his home, 
 
STORIES ABOUT FLAGS AND CRESTS. 119 
 
 at Groombridge, in the English County of Kent. There the royal 
 prisoner remained during twenty-four years ; but the time was not 
 allowed to hang heavily upon his hands, and, as a result of kind 
 treatment and a proper appreciation of each other's noble qualities, 
 a warm friendship sprang up between captor and captive. At the 
 close of this long period of exile from his home, France ransomed 
 the Duke. But after reaching his country the Duke found that his 
 memory of the happy days of captivity was so pleasant to dwell 
 upon, that he caused the somewhat decayed family mansion in 
 Groombridge to be rebuilt for Sir Richard, and bestowed many ben- 
 efactions upon the little church of Spedhurst, over the door of 
 which his arms may still be seen. He also begged the knight to 
 assume as his crest, in remembrance of him, a tree in full leaf, and 
 bearing on one of its branches a shield displaying the arms of 
 France — a blue ground, with three golden lilies, and a slight addi- 
 tional mark. 
 
 The last English crest that I will mention is the one belonging 
 to the Duke of Hamilton. An ancestor of this house, Sir Gilbert 
 Hamilton, was one of the courtiers that surrounded Edward the 
 Second in London, and, although a very devoted adherent to the 
 English king, was a warm admirer of the great Robert Bruce. One 
 day he chanced to speak in glowing terms of the Scottish King, 
 forgetting or not caring that such language was not acceptable to 
 English ears. John de Spencer heard the eulogistic words, and, 
 being a favored satellite of Edward's, considered them as an insult 
 to his master. He permitted his temper to flash out, not only in 
 words but in a stinging blow on the offender's face. In an instant 
 Sir Gilbert resented the insult, and challenged him to a duel on the 
 
120 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 next day. In this duel De Spencer was killed ; and Hamilton, fully- 
 aware what the wrath of the king would be when the news of the 
 death of his favorite should reach his ears, fled from London. As 
 he expected, a pursuit was hotly pressed, and, notwithstanding his 
 vigorous efforts to reach the Scottish border, he found the pursuers 
 almost upon his heels. At this juncture he reached an extensive 
 forest, and, finding woodmen there, busy felling trees, he bade them 
 exchange garments with him and his servant. Scarcely had this 
 been done, and, saw in hand, the fugitives were industriously play- 
 ing the part of common peasants, than the troopers rushed by in 
 headlong haste. The servant was so terrified that, as the band swept 
 by, he paused and gazed at them with an agonized look of apprehen- 
 sion. " Through," called out the knight, and, thus recalled to his 
 senses, the servant was in an instant as busy as his master, and 
 they escaped. In remembrance of this adventure, a crest consisting 
 of a tree with a saw upon it, and the word " through " for a motto, 
 was adopted. 
 
 Before the separation of the colonies from the mother country, 
 a few drops from the shower of royal favors fell upon the settlers in 
 New England. Sir William Pepperell was one of those whom the 
 royal George dignified by raising to the baronetcy. He was only 
 an ordinary trader at Piscataway when the governor and council 
 requested him to take command of six thousand men who were to 
 be sent out against the French in Cape Breton. This he consented 
 to do, and, aided by the gallant Commodore Warren and his fleet, 
 laid siege to the great fortress of Louisbourg, one of the best built 
 forts that France could construct. The siege lasted seven weeks, 
 and the garrison then surrendered. To prevent any further trouble 
 
Lord Ponsonby 
 
 Batcheler. 
 

 STORIES ABOUT FLAGS ASTD CRESTS. 121 
 
 from so nearly impregnable a fortress, the English levelled it to the 
 ground, and now when a stray visitor, flitting solitarily through the 
 Canadian-besprinkled island, visits its site, there is nothing save 
 little irregularities in the ground to indicate the spot where it once 
 stood. After his return, Sir William woke one morning to find 
 himself a baronet, and entitled to wear as a crest a mural crown, 
 with an arm covered with armor and grasping a flag issuing from 
 it. Over the crest was placed a little motto, " Peperi" " I have 
 accomplished it." 
 
 Another instance of the goodness of the king, as shown towards 
 the Colonies, although not manifested in the gift of a crest, was 
 when the Rev. Stephen Batchelor became the first pastor over a 
 church in Ligonia. He was not created a baronet, to be sure, but 
 he was given a coat-of-arms, lucky man that he was, and quite a 
 unique one also. In the centre of a bright green shield behold a 
 plough, and way down in the right-hand corner of the escutcheon 
 a droll little sun, spiked round about with golden beams. These 
 two symbols were given him as emblems of his vocation — the 
 plough was to indicate that his life was to be spent " in ploughing 
 up the fallow ground of their hearts," and the frolicsome-looking 
 little sun " that he was dispensing light in that part (or corner) of 
 the world." 
 
 The helmet that rests upon the top of the shield represents the 
 rank of the owners, — a slight difference indicating to which of the 
 various grades in the peerage it belongs. 
 
 The coronets rest upon the helmets, and are of several kinds. 
 After those borne by royalty is that of the duke, then the marquis, 
 then the earl, then the viscount, then the baron. 
 
122 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 From the coronet drops a veil, called " Mantling," and is made of 
 crimson velvet, lined with ermine. This was to act the part of a 
 shield for the helmet, as did the surcoat to the steel body-coverings. 
 It was frequently much torn and slashed in battle, consequently the 
 heraldic painter usually represents the mantle with a jagged edge, 
 thus paying the ancestor of his noble patrons such honor as he may 
 by assuming that they had been mighty men in war. 
 
 When William the Conqueror possessed himself of England, in 
 order to satisfy the clamors of his Norman nobles he gave them not 
 only vast estates, but created them barons, so that, although the title 
 now ranks as lowest in the peerage, it was at that time the highest 
 title below the princes in the land. Not only that ; these old 
 feudal barons became so powerful that the throne, again and again, 
 trembled and almost tottered from the blows struck it by some 
 almost kingly vassal. 
 
 A viscount, as you noticed in my list of titles, is that which ranks 
 next above the baron of to-day. This title was formerly given to 
 the sheriff of a county, and it was not until Henry VI. became 
 king that the designation was introduced into the company of noble 
 titles. This title is always limited in time. The first viscount, Sir 
 John Beaumont, was permitted to transmit it to his son and grand- 
 son, but there it ceased. 
 
 Then comes the earl. Nobles bearing this title existed in Eng- 
 land long before the Conquest. But the earls, like the barons, 
 have seen upstart titles spring up and carry off all the honors of 
 precedence, such as the Marquis and the Duke. 
 
 The original office of a " marquess " was to guard the frontiers 
 of a kingdom, called marches — that being a German word signify- 
 
STORIES ABOUT FLAGS AND CRESTS. 123 
 
 ing " limits." Such were the marches of Scotland and Wales before 
 they became part of the kingdom of Great Britain. 
 
 But Richard IT. had a favorite, Robert de Vere, who for no 
 special services, but purely from the fancy of the king, was greatly 
 esteemed by the sovereign. He created him marquess, and bade him 
 consider himself as standing on a higher round of the peerage ladder 
 than even the haughty earl. 
 
 But the duke still holds his own. This title was first introduced 
 into England by King Edward III., some fifty years before the title 
 of marquess became a position of dignity between the duke and the 
 earl. This king created his son the first duke, making him Duke of 
 Cornwall. 
 
 Upon the shields of the lower knights the coronet used is always 
 the ducal coronet, and as we use the name it occurs to me that per- 
 haps some of you are not aware that the coveted title of knight had 
 its origin in the servile one of " Knecht," or servant. Not a few of 
 the great nobles sprang from some such humble beginning, as, for in- 
 stance, the noble Lord Ponsonby, whose escutcheon bears noble 
 witness to the fact that an ancestor of his was barber to the Con- 
 queror ! Lord Dudley had a goldsmith, or wealthy jeweller, for his 
 first recognized ancestor; and, as for the Earl of Dartmouth, he 
 sprang from even humbler origin. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 » SUPPORTERS. — MOTTOES. — SHIELD. — COLORS. — METALS. — FURS. 
 
 And now we will look at the supporters. 
 
 In old tournament days when the knights placed their arms 
 within the lists, previous to beginning the jousts, they left as guards 
 on either side of their equipments, two men, fantastically dressed — 
 perhaps as dragons, mermaids, angels, or as any form that caught 
 their fancy; and it is thought that this custom gave rise to'these 
 strange figures that appear on so many coats-of-arms. Unless sup- 
 porters are inherited, they can only be displayed by special permis- 
 sion from the sovereign. 
 
 Here is the "achievement" belonging to the Scottish family of 
 Hay, Dukes of Errol. Nothing of the hobgoblin type acts as sup- 
 porters to their shield, but two farmers, each of whom carry an ox- 
 yoke. In the southern borders of Scotland, there is an ancient 
 town called Perth, and many years ago, when invasion by the fero- 
 cious Danes was as dreaded as a pestilence is now, Kenneth III. 
 was routed in an encounter with them near this town. As the 
 defeated clansmen fled before their foes, a stout-hearted farmer, 
 who, with his two sons, was ploughing in a field, saw the disgraceful 
 rout, and springing to the narrow mountain gorge through which 
 their cowardly countrymen were fleeing, they flourished the gear of 
 their plough around their heads, and threatened to strike dead any 
 one who should attempt to force their way by them, upbraiding 
 
 124 
 
SUPPORTERS. 125 
 
 them as they did so for their caitiff desertion of king and colors. 
 So determined were they in their obstruction of the defile, that 
 they infused fresh courage into the panic-stricken troops, who, at 
 last, plucking up heart, turned upon their pursuers. The Danes, 
 utterly astounded by their unexpected onslaught, felt assured that 
 re-enforcements must have arrived, and, wheeling about, retreated 
 towards their boats, leaving the Scots masters of the field. Great 
 was the rejoicing and loud the plaudits showered upon the loyal 
 farmer and his sons, as they were brought into the presence of their 
 sovereign. To reward them, the king bade the farmer let a falcon 
 fly from his hand, and promised him the length and breadth of as 
 much land as the swiftly flying bird would pass over before seeking 
 to rest herself by perching. 
 
 In this way did a vast estate in the district of Gowrie pass into 
 the hands of the future dukes of Errol, and they commemorate the 
 occasion by displaying their yeomen supporters. 
 
 Supporters cannot be taken at will. They are only given in 
 Great Britain by the Queen, and, with her permission, by the king- 
 at-arms, called Lyon, of Scotland. Sometimes the supporters repre- 
 sented the office of the noble who carried them, as under the old 
 monarchical rule in France, where the Admiral bore two anchors, 
 the Grand Butler two bottles, the Great Huntsman two 
 bugles, etc. 
 
 Even where supporters are permitted to be borne by favored 
 subjects, occasionally the wish of the receiver is to display but one, 
 as when the Lord of Stoke Tyne having done the king some im- 
 portant service, Charles the First offered to knight him. This he, 
 with many thanks, declined, and requested instead to be permitted 
 
126 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 to place the arms of his family upon the breast of a hawk. His 
 petition was granted, and the lords of the manor have since that 
 time always so borne their arms. 
 
 In France, where supporters are treated with more respect than 
 is the crest, they sometimes introduced no less than four, two stand- 
 ing upon the other two. 
 
 The Earls of Kildare explain the appearance of a singular animal 
 that acts as supporter upon their coat-of-arms in a way that does 
 
 credit to the vivid Irish imagination. Their ancestor, the first earl 
 of Kildare, bore the nickname "Nappagh," or ape, from a little 
 adventure that befell him when an infant. He was but nine months 
 old when his father and grandfather were both killed in a battle 
 waged between them and their old-time enemies, the McCarthys. 
 When this occurred the child was being cared for at Tralee, but his 
 
SUPPORTERS. 
 
 127 
 
 nurses, upon receiving the dreadful tidings of what had befallen the 
 family, became so frantic that they rushed out of the house, leaving 
 the child in its cradle. There it lay, crowing and cooing to itself, 
 until it attracted the attention of a great ape, or baboon, which was 
 kept on the grounds. He went to the laughing little fellow, and, 
 easily lifting him out, proceeded to escape with his burden from the 
 house. Once outside the door, he scampered along the ground with 
 the astonished child in his arms, and contrived to reach the neigh- 
 boring abbey without being seen. Chattering with delight, he now 
 began to clamber with him to the roof, which he did in safety ; then, 
 not satisfied with such a performance, he proceeded without more 
 ado to scale the steeple ! Here he cut up various antics, to his own 
 intense satisfaction, and to the horror of the poor maids, who, hav- 
 ing recovered from the first bewilderment of grief, had returned to 
 look after their charge. Not finding him, they left the house to 
 search for the missing child, and it was not until after much hunting 
 and calling that they at length spied him in his appalling position. 
 There was nothing to do but wait the pleasure of the animal, as 
 should he become enraged or alarmed he might drop the baby at 
 any moment. At last the monkey became weary of his sport, and 
 began to descend with extreme care, clutching the howling infant 
 with a grip of iron. He reached the ground and replaced the terri- 
 fied and screaming baby in its cradle, and then, followed by a shower 
 of dust-pans, kettles, brooms, or whatever substitutes were used in 
 those days, he made a hurried exit. 
 
 On another coat-of-arms we see a couple of beavers used as sup- 
 porters. The shield belongs to General Carleton, whose name is not 
 especially dear to American boys who have read the pitiful account 
 
128 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 of the winter march, so painful and so trying, made by our brave 
 Revolutionary soldiers through the forests of Maine up to the 
 Heights of Quebec, and their disastrous repulse by this general. 
 He pursued them for some distance up the St. Lawrence, and 
 on Lake Champlain contested their possession of that sheet of 
 water. During this struggle he made great havoc in the American 
 fleet, and, in the words of an admiring Briton, "by his vigorous 
 exertions, he was able to postpone the day of final separation be- 
 tween the colonies and Great Britain." He became Lord Dorchester, 
 and, after returning to England, was elected a Knight of the Order 
 of the Bath ; and the beaver, which abounds in Canada, was given 
 him as his supporters, one wearing a mural crown about his neck, 
 and the other a naval coronet, in honor of his successful endurance 
 of the siege at Quebec, and his victories on Lake Champlain. 
 
 Now, nothing remains for us to look at, before attacking the 
 shield, except the motto. These are of two kinds, one which origi- 
 nated in the battle-cries of the powerful nobles whose wealth and 
 power, as we have noticed before, sometimes fully equalled that of 
 the king. Such as the " Crom a boo " of the Fitz Geralds, Earls of 
 Leinster. This war-cry was taken from the favorite castle of the 
 family, situated in the small town of Crom, about twelve miles from 
 Limerick. " A boo " means " to the rescue " — and mottoes similar 
 to this are occasionally seen — as on the Butler coat-of-arms we read 
 " Butler a boo," and on that of the Desmond's " Shanet a boo," 
 Shanet being the spot where they had built their castle. 
 
 "When Henry VII. was made king, he abolished the use of all 
 these family " cris de guerre " upon the battle-field, on account of the 
 feuds and rancors that often existed between these haughty chiefs, 
 
MOTTOES. 
 
 129 
 
 and bade them call alone "St. George and Merrie England," or 
 upon the name of the king. 
 
 Other such mottoes are the "A Home," of Dunbar; and the 
 u Dieu aide au premier Chr6tien," the arrogant war-cry of the great 
 House of Montmorenci. 
 
 The other class of mottoes includes anything that suits the fancy 
 
 Leslie, Earl of Rothes. 
 
 of its owner, for the use of the motto is optional with any one who 
 has the right to bear a coat-of-arms. Unlike the crest and support- 
 ers, it is not the gift of the sovereign or college of arms. 
 
 Mottoes are often exceedingly amusing — sometimes expressive 
 of some pious thought -or they are puns on the names of their 
 owners ; in fact, they are of all varieties. 
 
130 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 The motto of the Leslies, Earls of Rothes, is " Grip fast," and 
 was chosen by the family in order to keep fresh in their memories, 
 and those of their neighbors, a gallant act of devotion shown by 
 one of their forefathers toward Queen Margaret of Scotland. The 
 Queen was attempting to ford a stream, when her palfrey grew 
 suddenly weak, and she was in imminent danger of being drowned. 
 Bartholomew Leslie, who accompanied her, hurried to her rescue, 
 and as she clung to his girdle, he bade her take courage ; " Grip 
 fast," he said, and all would be well. 
 
 Pious old Dr. Doddridge felt much annoyance at the common 
 translation of his Latin motto, and yet he could not make up his 
 mind to rid himself of the old heirloom, borne by his ancestors for 
 so many generations. It reads in Latin " Dum vivimus, vivamus" 
 and in English, " While we live, let us live." He was scandalized 
 by its jovial ring, and strove to turn the meaning into more sober 
 paths. On this account he wrote his celebrated hymn, which, if you 
 do not know, your grandmothers do. 
 
 " Live while you live, an epicure would say, 
 And catch the pleasures of the present day ; 
 Live while you live, the sacred Preacher cries, 
 And give to God each moment as it flies ; 
 Lord, in my views, let both united be — 
 I live in pleasure, when I live to thee." 
 
 Some witty fellow was once asked by a very learned individual 
 of Cambridge, named Dr. Cox Macro, what motto he would advise 
 him to assume, and the quick answer came, "Why, Doctor, — cocks 
 may crow, of course ! " 
 
 The Onslows took for their motto, Festina lente^ or "Make 
 haste slowly." The Pierreponts selected Pie repone te, "Rest in 
 
MOTTOES. 131 
 
 quiet." The Ishams Ostendo non ostento, "I show I sham not."' 
 Lord Liverpool, upon being elevated to the peerage as a reward 
 for untiring efforts on behalf of the crown, selected as his motto, 
 Palma non sine pulvere. The opposition party, giggling behind their 
 sleeves, translated it as " This is a reward for my dirty work ! " 
 
 Another motto is one that Robert Curran gave to a wealthy 
 though sadly ignorant tobacconist, whose accumulated riches had 
 enabled him to retire from active trade. Having a coat-of-arms but 
 no motto, he thought the latter would be a great addition. So, 
 having much respect for the wit and talent of Curran, he asked 
 him one day if he could not suggest something that would be appro- 
 priate. "Certainly," answered Curran, "Quid rides!" As that 
 motto has a double joke in its Latin dress, suppose, boys, you find 
 out what it means. 
 
 Sometimes the mottoes are very pretentious: — as that of Sir 
 Francis Drake, " The eagle catcheth not flies " ; and the one chosen 
 by the Lumsdens, " By the gift of God, I am that I am." The 
 sneering critic, that always lurks in the neighborhood of such pom- 
 posity, whispers, with a laugh, that in better English it might read, 
 " Thank God ! I am no worse than I am." 
 
 England's royal motto has undergone various changes. Queen 
 Anne chose Semper eadem ; and, as she was not very popular with 
 the masses, Dean Swift sarcastically remarked that it meant " Worse 
 and worse." 
 
 The motto as now seen is Dieu et mon droit. This was selected 
 by Richard Cceur de Lion, who, in 1198, gained a victory at Gisons, 
 in Normandy, over the French. The king's military password for 
 the day had been this sentence ; and when success crowned his arms, 
 
132 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 the king, in memory of his triumph, adopted it as England's 
 motto. 
 
 And now let us at last take the shield. No two are precisely- 
 alike, some being covered with animals, flowers, shells, etc., and 
 others having geometrical lines drawn upon them. These lines are 
 supposed to suggest the old strengthening braces and framework of 
 the Norman shield, which, as you know, consisted of skins drawn 
 tightly over a wooden skeleton. After the shield had been made in 
 this manner, it became the fashion to gild or paint these bars and 
 clamps, and so a large number of ornamentations arose, each one of 
 which has its own distinctive name. 
 
 The colors used in decoration are but few in number, and some 
 have singular names. A herald never thinks of calling the stripes 
 on our flag red — oh ! never ! To him they are gules — perhaps 
 from the Persian word " gul," a rose. Then blue — ah, but that is 
 not blue in the herald's eyes, — he says it is azure — a word taken 
 from the precious stone, lapis lazuli. From this stone the painters 
 obtain their costly pigment, ultramarine blue. Black is sable, but 
 nobody can tell the why or the wherefore. Purple is purpure, 
 which is a French word; so is vert, which in English is green. 
 Besides these, gold and silver were used, but under French names, — 
 or, and argent. These and also the colors were not permitted to be 
 borne upon each other. If the shield was gules, or red, and had a 
 stripe placed across it, it must either be of metal or of fur. They 
 had furs, jou see, also, with which to ornament their shields. One 
 variety is called vair, which is usually a mixture of blue and white, 
 and is intended to call to your mind a little gray and white squirrel. 
 There are two or three kinds of this vair, such as counter-vair, etc 
 
FURS. 133 
 
 But the most important fur is that which we call ermine, and about 
 
 the early use of which queer stories are told. Some one says that 
 
 the first one to use this fur upon a shield was Brutus, the son of 
 
 Silvius, who, having by accident killed his father, left that unhappy 
 
 region and travelled long in Brittany and France. There falling 
 
 asleep one night, he awoke to find the little beast called ermine 
 
 upon his shield, and from that time he wore a " shield ermine." 
 
 " The ermine is a creature of so pure a nature that it will choose 
 
 rather to be taken than to defile its skin." When the hunters 
 
 wished to take it, the old story was that they would surround it with 
 
 a wall of mud, which, from its dislike of dirt, it would not cross, 
 
 and was thus easily secured. It was from this supposed instinctive 
 
 love of cleanliness that the little animal became the emblem of 
 
 purity and of honor without stain. With this signification it is used 
 
 by royalty as a lining to their robes ; internal purity should regulate 
 
 their conduct. 
 
 « 
 Among the many, many ancient Orders of Chivalry was one 
 
 named after the ermine, probably on account of the legendary 
 
 purity of the animal. 
 
 You all know the tales connected with the Round Table of King 
 
 Arthur, and what a martial hero the king himself was ; and perhaps 
 
 you have heard how he was ensnared in a network of wars with Flolo, 
 
 who governed Gaul in those days. This was done by a Messire Yves 
 
 de Kerskao, who had relied upon Flolo to help him in some wicked 
 
 schemes of his own, by which he expected to gain possession of 
 
 certain rich provinces of France. This, Flolo refused to do, perhaps 
 
 because he wanted to get them himself. Yves therefore denounced 
 
 Flolo as a " miscreant, a pagan, a cursed and sacrilegious worshipper 
 
134 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 of idols, who persecuted the pious followers of Christ, and every- 
 where destroyed the shrines of the Blessed Virgin." All this was 
 quite true ; but as long as the monstrous sinner did not interfere 
 with Yves' wishes, or would have shown himself willing to aid Yves 
 in accomplishing his desire, the heinousness of his guilt was nothing 
 to the knight who now pronounced him such a blot on the face 
 of the earth. Arthur, without knowing the substratum of the 
 prayers with which Yves besieged him for the immediate punish- 
 ment of such an infidel, agreed to invade France and punish its 
 governor. But the supplication of some lovely maid detained the 
 king at Windsor — a castle which he is said to have founded and 
 built, and where the Order of the Knights of the Round Table was 
 instituted — longer than he expected. One day the impatient and 
 wrathful Yves burst into the banquet-hall, bearing a roasted heron 
 on a silver platter, and exclaimed, " Room, room for the valiant ! 
 Room for those who bring food for the brave ! The heron is of all 
 birds the most cowardly, and fears even his own shadow; I shall 
 give this dish to the most cowardly amongst you, and that, in my 
 opinion, is Arthur, heir of this most noble land of Gaul, whence he 
 has been driven by the Romans. Ho, the king of the brave dare not 
 fight for the kingdom which might have been his own ! " Arthur's 
 blood boiled, and his hand was on the hilt of his sword, but, restrain- 
 ing himself, he swore that not a twelvemonth should pass before he 
 would meet the evil Flolo. So the channel was crossed by Arthur 
 and a noble retinue of followers, and, traversing the sunny fields of 
 France, then all beautiful in the dress of early summer, he met his 
 antagonist in the Isle de Notre Dame, in Paris. Flolo sent a herald 
 to Arthur, defying the bravest of his knights to meet him in single 
 
FURS. 135 
 
 combat, saying it was needless to shed much blood in such a quarrel. 
 So saying, the herald flung the iron gauntlet of Flolo into the middle 
 of the hall. Knight after knight sprang to pick it up, but Arthur, 
 motioning them back, took it up himself, and sent back word that 
 he, the king, would accept the challenge. That night King Arthur 
 attended mass, and prayed for protection, and the heathen Flolo 
 sent up his petitions to Bacchus and to Dame Ivrognerie. The next 
 morning the two champions met, and charged upon each other with 
 such fury that what was horse and what was master, as well as 
 what was the dust of the field, the bystanders could not tell. But, 
 with shivered lances, they quickly regained their proper places, 
 and fell to hacking each other at a most dreadful rate with their 
 swords. Flolo was as towering as a giant as he was tremendous as 
 a sinner, the muscles of his arm being like bands of steel ; so his 
 blows fell with terrific force upon the hitherto invincible knight. It 
 is said that Arthur absolutely felt his knees bend beneath him. The 
 giant saw the advantage he was obtaining over the celebrated chief- 
 tain, and, raising his heavy sword, prepared to despatch him immedi- 
 ately. Just at this critical moment, " a radiant figure, wrapped in a 
 mantle of ermine," intervened between the two combatants, and the 
 mantle was quickly flung over King Arthur's shield. This, by its 
 extraordinary brilliancy, so dazzled the eyes of Flolo that he became 
 blind for the moment ; and Arthur, with his knees stiffening beneath 
 the shielding cover, bethought him once more of his good sword, 
 Excalibur, — and, brandishing it bravely above his head, chopped 
 off the head of the giant in less time than a sparrow could gobble a 
 cricket. He was unaware of the apparition and of the miraculous 
 help given him, but upon being informed of it by his knight he 
 
136 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 built a church in honor of the Blessed Virgin upon the identi- 
 cal spot over which now "those cymbals glorious are swinging 
 uproarious in the gorgeous towers of Notre Dame." He then as- 
 sumed the ermine as his armorial bearing, and since that time it has 
 always been borne by the Dukes of Bretagne. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 HONOEABLE OEDINAEIES. — SUB-OEDINAEIES. 
 
 A coat-of-aems is not always colored, yet if properly engraved, 
 every one familiar with heraldry can read at a glance the colors 
 that it possesses. Look at this one, belonging to 
 Sir John Hawkins, the famous navigator. His 
 shield is black, and has three bezants, or, as we 
 called them before, polka dots, in a row at the 
 top, and a little golden lion trotting along at the 
 bottom of the shield, upon a blue sea. For a 
 crest he has a negro, a black man, whose hands 
 are manacled. All this I see without anything but ink being used 
 in the picture. An Italian Jesuit taught the heralds how to do this 
 
 Hawkins. 
 
 by means of little lines and dots. If any part .,„ i ^ » f m 
 
 of the shield were red, then he covered it with :•. '* & I ' /. ' A 
 
 very fine lines, running up and down. If it I A fp t f\\ . M .♦ '% 
 
 were blue, then the lines were to run from side ^ A ' Jk fk ^ /j 
 
 
 to side ; if green they were to pass diagonally 
 from the left-hand upper corner to the right- 
 hand lower corner. If purple, then just the re- Brittany, 
 verse. If black, then the sidewise lines were made to cross those 
 running up and down. If it were gold, he spotted it with little 
 dots ; if silver, it was left pure white. If ermine, then it was white 
 
 137 
 
138 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 with little black streaks like tails sprinkled upon it. If vair, then 
 little objects like peculiarly shaped hats, adjoining each other, were 
 drawn upon it. 
 
 But we want to know what the little stripes and bars formed by 
 the braces of the shield are called. Here is a shield that belonged 
 
 ^ to the Chevalier Bayard. The little 
 
 / iflPiFJ^/^^ band passing across the upper third, and 
 
 / vj) Wm^S^?^/ on wn ^ cn * ne li° n ' s head is painted, is 
 
 \' '• - '• '• ygH r =r~z7 * 'b'/ called the chief — as it is the uppermost 
 
 • '• ' .. T P T \ 1 portion of the shield. When a second, 
 
 • • j^M^I^:' > ' • ' - A third, fourth, or fifth son shows his 
 
 \JMlS3§r / ,'■, '.';'\ father's arms, he ought to put a little 
 
 ^^^^^1^^---^-^ bird, star, or flower, or some one of the 
 
 Chevalier de Bayard. ^ jj^ ^-^ uged ^ such pup . 
 
 poses, in one corner of this chief. Another very famous coat-of- 
 arms where we see the chief, is that belonging to the numerous 
 family of Keiths. This is a famous Scottish name, and if you look 
 at the coat-of-arms borne by the Earl of Kintore, who has inherited 
 the right to display the devices won by the early Keiths, you will be 
 interested in the stories that make certain portions of the insignia 
 so prized by this family. 
 
 That quarter of the shield where you see the chief is partitioned 
 by little red pales, or stripes, belonged to the first distinguished 
 ancestor of the family, a subject of old King Malcolm II. Under 
 the leadership of his king, he fought most courageously with the 
 Danes who had come across the stormy North Sea to conquer the 
 Scottish country. After one of the most severe contests, near Dun- 
 dee, King Malcolm was so delighted with the gallant conduct of the 
 
HONORABLE ORDINARIES — SUB-ORDINARIES. 
 
 139 
 
 young Highlander that, dipping his finger in the blood of a slain 
 Danish general, he drew three stripes or pales on the heroic soldier's 
 shield, and bade him and his children bear such stripes upon their 
 shield through all generations. In addition to this, he gave him the 
 Barony of Keith, in Lothian. He therefore assumed Keith as the 
 family surname. Some time after this he was made Great Mari- 
 
 Keith, Earl of Kintore. 
 
 schal, or Marshal of Scotland, and for many generations this office 
 was held by his descendants. This family became extremely 
 wealthy, it being said that at one time the owner of this coat-of- 
 arms could start from Berwick on the English Border, and ride to 
 the northern coast of Scotland, eating all his meals and lodging 
 everywhere in his own domains. 
 
 Now you will notice the first and fourth divisions of this little 
 
140 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 Keith quarter, and there you will see a sword crossing a sceptre, 
 and between them a crown. This is to show that one of the Keiths, 
 during the republican days of Cromwell's rule, fearing for the 
 safety of the Scottish regalia, took it stealthily and concealed it in 
 the Castle of Dunotter, in Kincardineshire, an ancient possession of 
 the Great Marshal of the family, and to whom belonged the duty of 
 guarding the crown. Soon after carrying it thither the castle was 
 besieged on all sides, and Keith felt unwilling to leave his trust in 
 such a dangerous place. So he prevailed on one of the ladies of the 
 castle to put it (the regalia) in a bag, and throw it, mixed with 
 other articles, upon a laboring woman's back. She took it to Keith, 
 who carried it to the Kirk of Kinneff, and gave it into the hands of 
 the clergyman, called Granger. This gentleman and his wife buried 
 it under the pulpit. When the castle surrendered (and it was the 
 last stronghold in Britain, Scott tells us, over which the royal flag 
 waved), the defender and his lady were threatened with the loss of 
 their lives if they did not immediately give up their royal trust. 
 The commander vowed by all that was most holy that he knew 
 nothing about it, the regalia having in truth been carried away 
 without his knowledge ; but his lady, while maintaining most stoutly 
 that it was not in the castle, confessed, as the reason for so saying, 
 that one of her ladies had given it to the Keith, second son of the 
 Earl Marischal, and he had carried it off. As Keith had almost 
 immediately afterwards sailed for France, and had had the rumor 
 carefully circulated that he had taken the regalia with him, all 
 further search for the missing emblems of royalty was suspended. 
 For this good service Keith was rewarded by this augmentation to 
 his shield, and a few years later was made Earl of Kintore. 
 
HONORABLE ORDINARIES — SUB-ORDINARIES. 
 
 141 
 
 The regalia consisted not only of the crown (which was supposed 
 to be as old as the days of Bruce), but of sceptre, sword of state, 
 treasurer's rod of office, and the badges of the Orders of the Garter 
 and Thistle. 
 
 Then there are shields on which we see a broad straight band 
 passing from the top to the bottom. It is said that in the early 
 Paie. history of English warfare every soldier was ex- 
 
 pected to carry a stick, or wooden paling, which, 
 when encamping for the night, were stuck by 
 rows in the ground, and so formed a species of 
 fortification. From this arose the use of the 
 word " pale." 
 
 Erskine. Another decoration is the " Fesse," and crosses 
 
 the middle of the shield like a sash. 
 
 The Fesse of Sir Francis Drake is wavy to represent the " surges 
 of the sea," and in the stars above and below the Fesse we must 
 recognize the northern and southern pole stars, ^ ^^^^— 
 he having so traversed the ocean as to need the ] K^l 
 aid of both. 
 
 Still another is called the " Bend," and is a band 
 passing from the right-hand upper corner to the 
 left-hand lower corner of the shield. And about 
 this "charge," or device, gathers quite a little story. 
 
 Old Chester — but a short ride from Liverpool, and which every 
 American whose eyes have never gazed upon a walled city is 
 anxious to visit — belongs to the Grosvenors, now Dukes of West- 
 minster; and, should you ever visit it, you would, unless it had 
 rained Americans the day before, stop at the Grosvenor Hotel. If 
 
 Drake. 
 
142 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 your countiymen had flocked there just before you, you would have 
 to content yourself at the very clean and sweet Queen's Hotel ; but 
 nice as the accommodations are that they offer there, you would 
 miss the sensation you might feel when eating your chops and sleep- 
 ing on curtained beds in a house whose name, to a herald, recalls a 
 long, bitter, though wordy war of five years' duration. Such a war 
 it was when a Grosvenor strove to defend his right to wear a golden 
 bend on an azure shield, against the representative of an old and 
 noble family named Scrope. Two big books, which were at one time, 
 and perhaps are even yet, carefully kept in the Tower in London, 
 attest the violence with which each contestant supported his claim. 
 Frequently in such cases a duel was fought between the contending 
 parties to settle the dispute, and when two knights during the days 
 of Richard II. met to decide the question before the Palace of West- 
 minster, there were more spectators to witness the scene than there 
 had been, not long before, to see the coronation of the king. 
 
 Scrope was the lucky fellow in this case, either because he proved 
 a better claim than Grosvenor was able to do, or because, being 
 Bend. better known, he had a much larger number of 
 
 friends amongst the judges who formed the court. 
 It was decided that Scrope should bear the sim- 
 ple original shield, but permission was given 
 to Grosvenor to display the arms if he would put 
 a border of silver around the shield. This pleased 
 Scrope. neither Grosvenor nor the king, to whom the 
 
 matter was referred. The king decided that Scrope should carry the 
 disputed arms, and Grosvenor must assume those of the Earls of 
 Chester, with whom he was connected. With a sore heart, he did 
 
Duke of Buccleuch 
 
 Duke of Athole 
 
 Kirkpatnck. 
 
 Bear & Ragged Staff. 
 
HONORABLE ORDINARIES — SUB-ORDINARIES. 
 
 143 
 
 so, but strove to comfort himself by retaining the colors of his 
 former coat, blue and gold. The Grosvenor shield thenceforth 
 displayed a golden sheaf of wheat upon a blue 
 background. 
 
 When several bends appear upon a shield, they 
 are called " bendlets," as on Lord Byron's shield. 
 This shield of Lord Byron has been adopted by 
 the city of Manchester as its coat-of-arms. 
 
 In stories of chivalry, you have read of the " Bar Sinister," but 
 
 it should be " Bend Sinister," and though it usually was considered 
 
 a disgraceful addition to any shield, it is not 
 
 always so regarded. The bend in this case goes 
 
 from the left-hand upper corner to the lower 
 
 right-hand corner. The wealthy Lords of Buc- 
 
 cleugh look with serene contentment upon their 
 
 escutcheon thus embellished, for by means of it 
 
 Byron. alone they show their claim to two or three drops 
 
 of royal blood, which came to them through Charles the First. 
 
 A droll story is told of a Frenchman and an Italian, each of 
 whom swore that the arms he bore were his, and belonged to no one 
 else. The French king had hired a large number of Genoese troops 
 to aid him in his wars with the English, and among the number was 
 one on whose shield was painted the head of an ox. Seeing this, a 
 nobleman of France, whose coat-of-arms was similar, took umbrage, 
 and challenged the right of the Italian to display them. So long they 
 strove in words, that finally they needs must fight. The day came, 
 and to the place appointed the fiery Frenchman hurried, while with 
 slower step thither sauntered the Italian, laughing as he went. 
 
144 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 " Now, wherefore should we fight," said he to his antagonist. 
 " Marry," said the irate Frenchman, " I will make good with my 
 body that these arms were mine ancestors' before thine." "And 
 what were your ancestors' arms?" again queried the Genoese. 
 "An ox-head," said the Frenchman. "Then truly," said our 
 Italian, throwing down his weapons, " here needeth no battle, for 
 this I bear, behold ! — it is but a cow's head." 
 
 Another mark is that cal]ed a chevron, and looks like the gable of a 
 house, lying on the centre of the shield. Every cadet at West Point is 
 familiar with the chevron, which is as prominent on the sleeves of the 
 corporals and sergeants as spurs are on the heels of cavalry officers. 
 The old family of the De Clares displayed their simple shield, 
 with its three chevrons, with as much pride as if it bore the arms of 
 England itself. So powerful was the family that 
 their device appears upon the coats of many fami- 
 lies allied to them by marriage or some other 
 means. The city of Cardiff wears them, as does 
 also Clare College, at Cambridge. 
 
 After the chevron we have the pile, which 
 some think represents the sacred nails driven into 
 
 De Clare. 
 
 the hands and feet of our Blessed Lord. Be that 
 as it may, it was displayed by one gallant knight who honored Old 
 England with his achievements. There is a little story told by 
 Froissart about the first unfurling of his banner when just created 
 Banneret on the field of battle. In days gone by, as you already 
 know, any very conspicuous deed of valor was often rewarded im- 
 mediately upon the close of the day with some advancement or gift. 
 When this was the case, should the banner or pennon of the good 
 
HONORABLE ORDINARIES — SUB-ORDINARIES. 145 
 
 knight be one that had never waved above a conquerer's head, 
 it bore, as at first, its swallow-tail end. But when victorious and 
 honored by the commander, the points were torn off and the pennon 
 carried square. 
 
 Sir John Chandos, one of the Knight Founders of the Order of 
 the Garter, appeared upon the field with his maiden banner to be 
 displayed upon the field for the first time just before the battle of 
 Naveret, in Castile. " He brought his banner in me. 
 
 his hands, rolled up around the staff, and said to 
 the Prince of Wales (the Black Prince): 'My 
 lord, behold ! here is my banner. I deliver it to 
 you in this way (still rolled round the staff) that 
 it may please you to display it, and that this day I 
 may raise it ; for, thank God, I have land and chandos. 
 
 heritage sufficient to support the rank, as it might be." Then the 
 Prince and the King — Don Pedro, King of Castile — took the 
 banner, which was of silver, with a sharp red pile, between their 
 hands, by the staff, and, displaying it, tore off the ends and returned 
 it to him, the Prince saying, ' Sir John, behold your banner. May 
 God grant you may do your duty ! ' Then Sir John Chandos bore 
 his banner, so displayed, to his own company, and said, 'Gentle- 
 men, see here my banner and yours; preserve it as your own.'" 
 Do you think they failed to do it ? 
 
 The right to display a square banner upon the field was also 
 an indication of high rank, as no one of less degree than a baron 
 was permitted to do so. 
 
 Quarterings meant, originally, the shield divided into four quar- 
 ters ; afterwards, when the arms of wealthy wives came to be added 
 
146 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 to the shield, it meant any square divisions that were introduced for 
 such a purpose, no matter how numerous they might be. 
 
 This is a very important ornamentation of the shield, for it is by 
 quartering the shield into any number of little squares that the 
 wife, if she happen to possess the lands and the title of her father 
 — no big brother or near male relative interfering to prevent her 
 from enjoying all that the good father can bequeath — is able to 
 put the shield of her family upon that of her lord and master. 
 Before dividing the shield in this way, it used to be fashionable to 
 let the husband take the right half of the shield, and give the wife 
 the half on the left ; but sometimes such a combination produced a 
 very queer-looking shield, as when the heads and fore legs of the 
 three lions of England had for their extremities the halves of three 
 fishes, or when an eagle and a lion were joined together. Alto- 
 gether, the appearance of the family shield was not pleasing, so it 
 was thought that by narrowing up the husband's coat-of-arms into 
 just half the width of the shield, and treating 
 the wife's in the same way, the arms of both 
 could be made plainly visible. But such elon- 
 gated lions and wonderful looking objects of 
 every kind were produced that this plan was 
 abandoned. About that time one of the Queens 
 of England, Eleanor of Castile, introduced the 
 custom of quartering, her husband taking for 
 two representations of his shield two of the quarters, and the wife 
 for the double display of hers the remaining two. In England, they 
 only quarter the arms of a wife who is so fortunate as to bring both 
 the title and the fortune of her father with her, there being 
 
 Quartering. 
 
 Castile. 
 
HONORABLE ORDINARIES — SUB-ORDINARIES. 147 
 
 no brothers, or descendants of brothers, to whom they could 
 descend. Then her husband wears her arms on a little escutcheon 
 in the centre of his, and his children put it in 
 
 Dimiiliation. 
 
 a square with their father's upon the family- 
 shield. 
 
 The Dukes of Athol must have been wonder- 
 ful magnets for the wealthy beauties of the land, 
 as, should they choose to do so, they can display 
 a thousand quarterings ! The Grahams of Mont- 
 rose, on the other hand, have sought their brides CheBteran ^ n 8 an • 
 where the ducats did not "gild refined gold." But the complexity 
 of the one shield and the simplicity of the other alters not the 
 pride which both take in their coats-of-arms. The ancient family 
 of Rodney also show a shield where their own device appears alone. 
 
 In Europe, sixteen quarters — seize quartiers — are, as some one 
 has said, a " Sesame " to almost every office of preferment, and 
 thirty-two quarters are a still greater desideratum. Sixteen quarters 
 show that for four generations the family has been constantly allied 
 with gentle blood, as an ignoble person in Europe in early days 
 could not show a coat-of-arms ; and the thirty-two prove it for five 
 generations. Every wife adds her coat to that of her husband, and 
 a place has to be found for it. Of course, if she bears no arms, the 
 shield lacks that one. 
 
 But when we look at the cross, as it glitters and glows on the 
 shields of so many knights, what different ideas awake within us. 
 We seem to hear the earnest pleadings, the stirring appeals, the 
 solemn exhortations of the devoted Crusade leaders, and we see a 
 vast concourse of armed men, the very flower of European chivalry, 
 
148 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 Cross Moline. 
 
 Molyneux, Earl of Sefton. 
 
 marching under flying banners, — the English knights with their 
 white crosses gleaming on the surcoat, the French with theirs of 
 red, the Flemings with the green, and the Romish States with their 
 crossed keys, — all wending their impatient way towards Palestine. 
 Many are the forms in which the cross appears upon the shield, and 
 although the charge probably originated in the 
 strong clamps that kept the framework of the 
 shield and its cover securely fastened together, 
 still the Crusades gave the undoubted cause of 
 its very general adoption. One faithful worker 
 in heraldic lore tells us that he has counted no 
 less than three hundred and eighty-five different 
 kinds of this one device ! 
 Some of those most commonly seen are very beautiful, such as 
 the Maltese Cross, borne by the Knight Templars, or the Knights 
 of St. John. The Cross Moline, too, is of a lovely form, and it was 
 borne by the Earls of Sefton on their shield. 
 This they did because of the similarity between 
 its name and their own, — Molyneux. 
 
 The Cross Patonce resembles the Maltese 
 Cross very closely, and it is seen at its best on 
 the arms of Edward the Confessor. 
 
 In olden days this cross was very often put on 
 the reverse side of English pennies, being placed there so as to 
 show how the penny should be cut to make the half-penny and 
 fourthing, or farthing, so commonly used in England. 
 
 And here is one of Polly's little coats-of-arms that is worth look- 
 ing at. We can see a hand on it, that grasps tightly a strange- 
 
 Edward the Confessor. 
 
HONORABLE ORDINARIES — SUB-ORDINARIES. 
 
 149 
 
 McDonald. 
 
 looking cross. When Polly obtained it, she never knew that a story 
 was wrapped all around and about it. But so it is, and I will tell it 
 to you. It belongs to the McDonalds, Earls of Antrim, and they 
 tell us that during the days of the holy St. Patrick, cross Fitchew, 
 that Saint expressed a great desire to visit Ireland, 
 hoping when there to win the pagan Irish heart for 
 his Master. To help him, a devout McDonald 
 offered to carry him thither in his boat; and, the 
 saint gladly availing himself of the offer, it was but 
 a short time before his pious enthusiasm and patient 
 love were enabling him to stir the natives into peni- 
 tence for their sins, and abandonment of false gods. The Cross 
 Fitche'e, as this form of cross is called, is a staff pointed at one end, 
 with the cross on the other. It acted as an aid to the pilgrims 
 when walking, and during the hours of prayer it could be stuck in 
 the ground and act the part of a crucifix to the devout Catholics. 
 On this account the McDonalds and McDonnells assumed it, and I 
 hope the good saint will do his duty by them. 
 
 Then there is the Cross Potent, and that appears on the unusual 
 
 shield that Pope Gregory permitted the Crusader King of Jerusa- 
 
 cross Potent. lem to assume. Here are five gold crosses potent, 
 
 that is, with the arms shaped like a crutch, upon a 
 
 silver shield. Ordinarily, no metal was laid upon 
 
 metal, as it prevented the shield from being 
 
 readily distinguished at a distance. Where a 
 
 color and a metal were used, as, for instance, a 
 
 Kings of Jerusalem, silver star on a blue ground, it could be seen 
 
 much farther and with much more distinctness than if the silver 
 
150 DAME HEKALDRY. 
 
 star had been set upon a golden shield. But the Pope declared that 
 in this case, owing to some verse in the book of Psalms, the rule 
 must not be adhered to. 
 
 Some Scotchman who published a book during the reign of 
 James I. of England, descriptive of his travels in the East, said that 
 all the pilgrims with whom he chanced to journey on his way 
 towards the Holy City bore these peculiar insignia marked upon 
 their arms. The five crosses, so all good Catholics assure us, ought 
 to recall to our minds the five wounds of our Saviour. 
 
 There is also the Calvary Cross, standing upon three steps, each 
 one of which represents one of the graces; and the Patriarchal 
 Cross, borne by the great Catholic patriarchs, and which, because of 
 its double cross, is very odd-looking. This double cross is to denote 
 that Christ died for both Jews and Gentiles. 
 
 The Cross Fleury is so named because a fleur-de-lys is attached 
 to each end of the cross. As for the Cross of St. George, which 
 you see upon England's Union Jack, that is the 
 Greek Cross. 
 
 The Tau Cross is sometimes called St. An- 
 thony's Cross, because that much demon-tor- 
 mented saint is always represented with this 
 cross, which is really one of the Greek letters, 
 Tau cross. stamped upon his dress. 
 
 One of the Drurys accompanied John of Gaunt into Spain, and 
 then, fired with holy zeal, made a pilgrimage to Palestine. In that 
 holy land he was so unfortunate as to leave his bones ; but before 
 making this last bequest of himself, he added to his shield this 
 letter, or Cross Tau. This he did because in very ancient times it 
 
HONORABLE ORDINARIES — SUB-ORDINARIES. 151 
 
 was used as a symbol of safety, in allusion to this verse in Scrip- 
 ture, "Slay utterly old and young — maids and little children and 
 women — but come not near any man upon whom is the mark 
 (or Tau)." 
 
 The Saltire, like the Greek Cross, is also seen on the Union Jack, 
 it being claimed, as we learned before, to be the cross on which St. 
 Andrew of Scotland and St. Patrick of Ireland were crucified. 
 There is a French word resembling it, which signifies a wood or 
 park, and the cross looks quite like the gate of an enclosure. The 
 Nevilles wear it on their shield, having been at one time Wardours 
 of the King's Forests throughout all England. The name of these 
 Nevilles was a powerful one in the history of England, and, during 
 the lifetime of the renowned king-maker, Richard Neville, it was so 
 extremely popular in Calais, where he was governor, that his badges 
 were universally adopted. "No man esteemed himself gallant 
 whose head was not adorned with his Ragged Staff; nor was any 
 door frequented that had not his white cross painted thereon." 
 
 Besides these simple lines there are a rabble of second cousins to 
 them. This little shield with a sort of checker in the right-hand 
 corner is said to have a "canton" upon it. Another divided 
 into irregular pieces is said to have gyrons, and here quite a pretty 
 tale of the old Spanish wars comes in. Very few families in Great 
 Britain wear it, but amongst the few is that of the Duke of Argyle, 
 the chief of the Campbell clan, but in Spain the charge is very 
 common. 
 
 The old Spanish family of Gyrons, Dukes of Ossona, assumed it 
 with its name, oh, many years ago, and thus they say it happened 
 that they did. King Alphonso VI. of Spain was at one time fighting 
 
152 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 Gyron, Duke of Ossona. 
 
 with the Moors, when the battle waxed so hot that his horse was killed, 
 and he, falling headlong to the ground, was thrown into immense 
 peril of capture or death. Don Roderigo de Cis- 
 neres saw his danger, and, forgetting all risk to 
 himself, rushed to the rescue of the king. This he 
 effected, and in the tussle cut three pieces from 
 the king's armor, that after the battle he might 
 prove himself to have been the king's deliverer. 
 The king recognized him as such, and granted 
 him permission to depict those bits of gyrons on his shield. It was 
 not an uncommon occurrence, during these conflicts with the Moors, 
 for the Christian commander to have his mantle torn in pieces by his 
 followers, who divided them among themselves ; and as they were 
 frequently more or less stained with blood, it accounts for the gyrons 
 always being of two colors. Gyron means a gore, or triangular 
 piece of cloth. Others think that the divisions between the spokes 
 of a wheel, called girons, accounts for the name. 
 
 Then there is the Fret, which sometimes looks like a knot, as 
 on the Harrington coat-of-arms. The Harrington knot is thought 
 to be only a portion of the meshes left from a 
 net that was thrown over the entire shield, 
 they having taken their name and arms from a 
 fishing village upon the sea, which belonged to 
 them. 
 
 At other times the fret covers the entire shield, 
 as it did that of a certain storied knight. One 
 day a couple of knights, engaged in a discussion of some question of 
 heraldry, happened to pause on the dusty highway, and, leaning 
 
 Harrington. 
 
HONORABLE ORDINARIES — SUB-ORDINARIES. 
 
 153 
 
 against the trunk of a tree, continued their discussion, emphasizing 
 it with a gesture or two, and in a tone that could scarcely be called 
 a whisper. Attracted by their manner, three or four peasants 
 gathered about them to hear the discussion. Just then a knight 
 appeared in the distance, mounted upon a handsome horse, slowly 
 trotting towards them. "Now," quoth one of the disputants, "see 
 if you can blazon his shield, so that his sovereign 
 might know him without being told his name." 
 The other agreed to do this, and, waiting only 
 until the sun fell upon the shield of the unknown 
 knight in such a way as to bring out with perfect 
 distinctness the device enamelled upon it, he 
 read as follows: "This knight beareth sable, a cat in the Dairy, 
 musion (cat) passant guardant or, oppressed with a fret gules of 
 eight parts, nails d'or." As I told you before, the language of the 
 heralds was one that was as well comprehended by the common 
 
 laborer as by the knight, so that this de- 
 scription was perfectly intelligible to the 
 little group of auditors. Immediately, 
 one of the peasants, who, when not listen- 
 ing, had asked an occasional question, 
 now exclaimed, " Sir, you call this armes ? 
 Now, by my faith, I had not thought that 
 arms could be of such trifling things. 
 Why, this is even the cat in the milk- 
 house window; full ill will the house- 
 keeper's dairy thrive if she puts such a vermin beast in trust 
 to keep it." 
 
 Scotland. 
 
154 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 Sutherland. 
 
 The Treasure, we have already seen, is greatly beloved by every 
 Scottish heart, and long and earnestly did Scotland strive to win the 
 coveted right-hand corner of the British shield for their beloved 
 tressured lion, when the two nations were united under James I. of 
 
 England ; urging as a never-to-be-denied 
 good ground for such a claim that James 
 I. of England was James VI. of Scotland. 
 The Tressure is a species of wreath of fleur- 
 de-lys, and it is asserted that the great 
 Charlemagne gave it to their king Achaius 
 as a token of friendship and alliance, say- 
 ing that he, as Emperor of France, would 
 defend his fleur-de-lys, expecting, I have 
 no doubt, that the Scottish lion would be 
 as valiant as he. When Charlemagne gave the Tressure to Scotland, 
 he also added to the Scottish crown four lilies and four crosses, as 
 signs of their faith in Christ and of the fidelity of Scotland. The 
 tressure on the arms of the Dukes of Sutherland 
 is to show their descent from King Robert I. of 
 Scotland. The family is one of the oldest in 
 England. 
 
 The Flanches, or little half-circles upon the 
 sides of a shield, call to mind an old-fashioned 
 mode of dress. We see them on a coat-of-arms Katherme Parr, 
 
 that Henry VIII. gave to his not very well beloved wife, Katherine 
 Parr. The Mascles — Fusils — Lozenges — and Rustres all more or 
 less resemble each other. 
 
 The Lozenge calls up gravestones, funerals, and such like gloomy 
 
 Flanches. 
 
HONORABLE ORDINARIES — SUB-ORDINARIES. 
 
 155 
 
 Lozenge. 
 
 Fusil. 
 
 apparitions, as when a wife becomes a widow she must no longer use 
 her husband's shield, but display her arms upon a Lozenge. Maiden 
 ladies are compelled to use the same. 
 The Fusil appears upon the Montagu 
 coat-of-arms, and illustrates the name — 
 Mont aigu — a sharp- 
 peaked mountain. The 
 Percys bear it also, but 
 five instead of the Mon- 
 tagu three. This is the 
 coat-of-arms belonging 
 to the Earl of North- 
 umberland. 
 
 Queer little oblong ornaments that look like chips scattered 
 over the shield are Billets, and may represent castles, or little 
 camps, but I should not wonder if they really meant billets, as 
 letters and notes are sometimes styled, and as decorations on a 
 shield were probably first given to bearers of important despatches. 
 
 Percy, Duke of North 
 umberland. 
 
 Jm 
 
 i%v 
 
 g=s==x 
 
 £^ ¥y |£ 
 
 ^^^k 
 
 /p£ a gi m ^ "4? 
 
 -rr \" 1 ^tr^/E^?^ 
 
 \ ^^ ~ 
 
 w 
 
 ^2?EE 
 
 
 
 x&y 
 
 Burdett Coutts. 
 
 Then there is the Bordure ; you remember 
 
 Billets. 
 
 Bordure. 
 
 that I told you that the High 
 Court before which Scrope 
 and Grosvenor tried to wrest 
 the family shield from each 
 other decided that the unfor- 
 tunate loser might keep it if 
 he would consent to edge it with a silver Bordure. 
 And this little shield, set in the very centre of the larger one is 
 called an Inescutcheon ; sometimes the arms of a rich wife are put 
 
 Dormer. 
 
156 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 upon it. Sometimes it is used for other purposes. If the Inescut- 
 cheon is put upon any other part of the shield, or if there are more 
 than one, then it is called an Escutcheon. 
 
 The Mortimers, who trace their family line away back to the 
 Crusader times, have such an inescutcheon. Although their arms 
 inescutcheon. show no connection with the Holy Wars, their 
 
 name bears witness to the fact, it having been 
 born in a victorious conflict that their warrior 
 ancestor had with the Saracens upon the solemn 
 shores of the desolate Dead Sea, De Mortui Mari. 
 Little round objects, too, are sometimes seen 
 — they are called Roundels, and very probably 
 were the flattened tops of the pegs that helped to fasten the 
 leathern cover of the shield to the braces. But now they are 
 considered ornaments, and are of various colors and bear various 
 names. The yellow ones are called Bezants, from 
 some little coins of Constantinople that the Cru- 
 saders frequently brought 
 home with them. The elder 
 of England's two famous 
 Pitts, Lord Chatham, was 
 allowed to place three Be- 
 zants, or pieces of money, upon his shield, 
 from the fact that he had been so prominently 
 Portugal. connected with the Treasury. 
 
 Bezants appear upon the Portuguese royal coat-of-arms, and 
 for the reason told in the following story. In the twelfth century, 
 when the English and French soldiers, fired with holy zeal, were on 
 
 Pitt, Earl of Chatham. 
 
HONORABLE ORDINARIES — SUB-ORDINARIES. 157 
 
 their way towards Palestine to carry on a second crusade against 
 the infidel, they stopped in Spain, and there found Count Alfonso 
 waging a most unequal warfare with five Moorish kings. These 
 great potentates had brought into the field no less than two hun- 
 dred thousand men ! The Count welcomed the arrival of the northern 
 knights ; but, notwithstanding the confidence he had in the prowess 
 of these timely allies, grave misgivings as to the result of a great 
 battle in which he was about to engage filled him with apprehen- 
 sion. 
 
 It was not surprising, therefore, that the night before the conflict 
 he sat gloomily meditating upon the dark prospect that lay before 
 him, and at last, falling upon his knees, permitted his disturbed 
 spirit to seek aid in the repeating of some prayers. He held his 
 Bible open in his hand, and as desperation had well nigh driven 
 hope from his heart, he mechanically turned the pages, not noticing 
 chapter or verse, until, his glance chancing to fall upon the name 
 of " Gideon," he found himself in the midst of that stirring narra- 
 tive of the defeat of the Midianites. Such an omen could not 
 fail to encourage him, and just at that auspicious moment a holy 
 monk, or hermit, entered his tent, and, blessing him, bade him, in 
 God's name, go forth in the morning, when he heard the bells ring 
 for mass, and to turn his face towards the east. This he did, and 
 there in a halo of clouds he beheld the body of the crucified Lord, 
 who promised him not only victory, but a crown, and the assurance 
 that for sixteen generations his children should sit upon the Portu- 
 guese throne. Alfonso, never doubting the celestial vision, imme- 
 diately went out to meet his troops, who saluted him as king ; then, 
 mounted on a white charger, that, according to Spanish custom, 
 
158 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 caracoled most bravely, he led the "enthusiastic troops to a most 
 brilliant victory, and Portugal became a kingdom. King Alfonso, 
 overjoyed at his triumph, changed the coat-of- 
 arms inherited from his father to that now be- 
 longing to the kingdom, — five shields disposed 
 crosswise on a white shield, in memory of the 
 Lord's five wounds, and charged each shield 
 with five bezants, in commemoration of the five 
 Moorish kings who were slain in the Camp d'Ourique. 
 
 The little red roundels are called Torteaux, and mean little cakes. 
 In the arms of the Bishopric of Worcester some of the worthy 
 " wearers of the cloth " think they mean the Communion Bread. 
 
 Then there are others that are purple, and green, and blue. The 
 black ones are called by several names, sometimes Pellets, some- 
 times Ogresses. Some think that all these little objects represent 
 the apples of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. 
 
 But what do these little dots with wavy lines of blue and silver 
 mean ? You would never guess, so I will tell you that they are 
 intended to look like fountains or springs. David 
 Hume, who wrote a long history of England, had 
 a coat-of-arms on which was a silver lion, sur- 
 rounded by a golden bordure, sprinkled with nine 
 of these little wells, or fountains. His family 
 were called the Humes of Nine Wells, there 
 being a cluster of just that number of springs on 
 their estate, bursting forth from a small hill that fronted the family 
 mansion ; and for this reason the wells or fountains were put upon 
 his shield. 
 
 Hume. 
 
HONORABLE ORDINARIES SUB-ORDINARIES. 
 
 159 
 
 Wallop. 
 
 Occasionally the representation of a river is seen upon a shield, 
 as on the coat-of-arms belonging to the Earls of Portsmouth, whose 
 family name is Wallop. Formerly it was Welliop, a name given to 
 two parishes, in the centre of which is a spring, gushing from a hop 
 or hill, which gradually grows in size until it is 
 quite a river. The wavy bend that crosses the 
 shield is supposed to indicate the river. 
 
 Another queer-shaped object is the Goutte, or 
 drop. It varies in color according as it represents 
 blood, tears, or pitch. The Duke of Anjou, King 
 of Sicily, is supposed to have been the first to dis- 
 play a shield thus ornamented. He lost the sovereignty of that 
 
 island, and soon after his loss appeared at 
 a tournament bearing a shield of mourn- 
 ful black, — over which were sprinkled 
 drops of water to represent tears, indicat- 
 ing his grief and his loss. 
 
 Occasionally when besieging a fortress, 
 and trying to scale or undermine its walls, 
 the soldiers would be unpleasantly sur- 
 prised with showers of boiling pitch. 
 Should they, at such times, prove them- 
 selves valiant and successful, they were 
 allowed to spot their shields with drops 
 of black, to prove their bravery during 
 wodehouse. such a trying ordeal. 
 
 This is one of the legends that hang about the glories of the 
 victory at Agincourt, where the English defeated a force that was 
 
160 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 four times their number. John Wodehouse was a soldier, and one 
 of the equerries that attended Henry V. in this battle. So heartily 
 did he fight for his king that day that the monarch's attention was 
 called to him in a very marked way, and, when distributing the 
 rewards at the end of the contest, he highly honored the worthy 
 soldier by giving him a large annuity, and raising 
 him to the rank of Steward of the rich Duchy of 
 Lancaster, which yielded him a salary that was 
 quite a fortune in itself; and then assigned 
 him as a crest the hand and club, with its 
 motto, " Frappez fort," or, " Strike home." The 
 blood drops or gouttes, on the chevron, were also 
 added as memorials of those he shed at Agincourt. 
 
 Another instance where gouttes were used is on the shield of 
 Drayton, the poet, where the blue shield is covered with drops of 
 water. Upon the shield is a representation of a Pegasus, in silver. 
 
 Drayton. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 OTHER DECORATIONS, TAKEN FROM LIVING OBJECTS. 
 
 We have now finished the list of honorable ordinaries and sub- 
 ordinaries, but besides these decorations of the shield there is a 
 vast variety of charges, to supply which, heaven and earth, sky and 
 sea, have been heavily taxed. 
 
 Lions, eagles, wyverns, fishes, crescents, suns, roses, lilies, spurs, 
 sleeves, — I doubt if even the wisest of heralds could enumerate all. 
 About some a veil of romance clings so persistently that even the 
 most prosaic of modern pursuivants cannot, with all his efforts, 
 brush the glamour quite away. About others the history of their 
 varied use gives a peculiar charm to their study. The lion is one 
 of these historical relics, and such a tremendous beast has he grown 
 to be that in England alone his roar can be heard from the Isle of 
 Wight to the rocky reefs of the Hebrides. 
 
 In the twelfth century he was indeed the King of Beasts in Her- 
 aldry, for it is a fact that at that time no other animal appeared 
 upon a British shield. He ramped alone, and, with but one excep- 
 tion, was always represented in this singular attitude, which, to the 
 heraldic mind, for some hidden, unnatural, unbeastly reason, is 
 considered the most majestic. 
 
 On this account, the three lions of England were frequently 
 styled leopards, and as such Napoleon always scofringly alluded to 
 them. The leopard, being anciently considered as a cross between 
 
 161 
 
lGl! DAME HEUALDRY. 
 
 the wolf and the panther, did not rank as a kingly beast. But 
 England has compelled a recognition of its noble animals, the first 
 representation of which is said to have shaken its mane on the 
 victorious banners of William the Conqueror. 
 
 The lion is now depicted and described in several attitudes. 
 The English prefer him " gardant," or with the face turned full 
 towards the spectator, while the French display him in profile. 
 
 But represented in any attitude approved by the herald's taste, 
 the lion of Barnum's Big Show is hard to be recognized. It is said 
 that some country herald painter, chancing to be in London one 
 day, was shown the lions in the Tower. " What," said the honest 
 man, " tell me that's a lion ! Why, I've painted lions passant, and 
 lions rampant, and all sorts of lions, these five and twenty years, and 
 for sure I ought to know what a lion's like better than all that ! " 
 
 Mingling with the uproar made by this noble beast, we can hear 
 
 the screech of the King of Birds. He has alighted upon various 
 
 shields — for instance, upon this one of the haughty French family 
 
 of Lorraine, where he styles himself an " alerion " ; and again upon 
 
 that of the lords of Montmorenci. One of the 
 
 early ancestors of this house was so gallant and 
 
 successful in war that in one battle alone he 
 
 deprived King Otho II. of two of his imperial 
 
 ensigns. To keep this fresh in the memory of 
 
 family and country, he placed four eagles upon 
 
 Montmorenci. hig escutcheon- Another of this warlike house, 
 
 meeting in bloody combat King Otho IV., tore from his enemy's 
 grasp no less than twelve more well prized banners. This was 
 at the battle of Bouvines ; and, while the blood spurted from count- 
 
OTHER DECORATIONS, TAKEN FROM LIVING OBJECTS. 
 
 163 
 
 less wounds received, he dropped his trophies at the feet of his 
 sovereign. Philip Augustus immediately dipped his fingers in the 
 flowing blood of his gallant follower, and, making a cross upon his 
 shield, exclaimed, " Oh, valiant man, I will that henceforth you bear 
 upon your shield, instead of a cross argent, as heretofore, a red cross, 
 and that, with your four alerions, you quarter twelve more, in honor 
 of your wonderful exploits to-day." 
 
 The double-headed eagles of Russia and Germany, though sup- 
 posed to be the result of halving two coats-of-arms and then conjoin 
 ing the odd halves, are also said to suggest that the sway of these 
 sovereigns is limitless. 
 
 The English have a shield on which three eagles are shown, and, 
 although the origin of these eagles is not the object of this story, 
 the fact that this one of all England's peers is 
 allowed, after the first bow to his sovereign has 
 been made, to clap his hat, or whatever covering 
 he hath, upon his head, and then sit in the pres- 
 ence of his monarch as majestically as the king 
 upon his throne, makes it curious enough to per- 
 mit Of OUr alluding to it. Courcey, Lord Kingsale. 
 
 A certain Sir John Courcey, a man who was possessed of as 
 great physical power as he was of military genius, had so greatly dis- 
 tinguished himself in the wars that England carried on in Gascony, 
 that Henry II. bade him aid a military superior in the government 
 of Ireland. Sir John persuaded some of his comrades, well tried 
 veterans in the French wars, to accompany him, and with them 
 boldly invaded the County of Ulster. His army was but a small 
 one, and the battles fought were fierce ; but experience, talent, and 
 
164 DAME HEKALDRY. 
 
 courage were more than a match for the untrained fury of the men 
 of Ulster, and the County was added to the king's dominions. For 
 this he was rewarded by being made Earl of Ulster. Not only did 
 he do this, but we are told that " he was continually doing prodigies 
 of valor," and he stood high in the estimation of his king. But 
 kings must die, as well as slaves ; and Henry II. was no exception. 
 King John ascended the throne, and he listened to the evil sugges- 
 tions and lying reports that Hugh de Lacie, whom King John had 
 appointed Governor of Ireland, whispered in his ear. De Lacie was 
 envious of the splendor and rank of the Earl of Ulster, and the king 
 permitted the black-hearted governor to seize the earl, as he stood, 
 barefoot and unarmed, doing penance in the churchyard of Downpat- 
 rick, on Good Friday. He sent him a prisoner to England, and, as was 
 the fate of all who pleased not England's king, he was incarcerated 
 in the Tower. There he stayed for about a year. At the expiration 
 of this time, King John and Philip Augustus had some warm words 
 concerning the Duchy of Normandy, and it was agreed that single 
 combat should decide the matter. King John appointed the day, 
 and the French king procured his champion, while John was vainly 
 hunting for one to represent him. No one could be thought of 
 whose skill and strength equalled those of De Courcey, and, although 
 the sentence passed upon him had been imprisonment for life, still, 
 for lack of a worthier knight, he was despatched to France to fight 
 for his ignoble master. 
 
 The day came and the champions appeared upon the field. The 
 kings of France, Spain, and England acted as spectators, but, not- 
 withstanding their august presence, no sooner had the French cham- 
 pion carefully scrutinized his opponent than, turning his horse's 
 
OTHER DECORATIONS, TAKEN FROM LIVING OBJECTS. 
 
 165 
 
 head, he fled precipitately from the field. The English king was 
 consequently considered as the successful contestant, and so de- 
 lighted was he that, on the French king's expressing his desire to 
 see some exhibition of the English giant's strength, he gladly bade 
 Sir John gratify his desire. The powerful knight grasped his sword 
 and with one mighty blow cleft a helmet in twain. At this King 
 John bade the knight ask what he would and it should be given 
 him — this, too, with the assurance that he already had his freedom 
 and full possession of his estates. The earl replied that he needed 
 nothing, but, if the king desired him to prefer a request, it would be 
 this — that he and his successors, so long as England had a sover- 
 eign, might, after making their first obeisance, remain covered in 
 the royal presence. Permission to do this was instantly granted 
 him, and continues until this day in the family of Lord Kingsale. 
 
 But the eagle is not the only bird who flutters over the heraldic 
 pages. The martlett is a very familiar charge, and is a curious- 
 looking little bird. It is always drawn without feet, in order to 
 typify two ideas. The scarred veterans of the Holy Wars usually 
 returned by water ; in that case feet were unnecessary, so the bird 
 became an emblem of their holy occupation. Another signification 
 is that with which the younger sons placed it upon their fathers' 
 coat-of-arms. This was to show that they were not the eldest son, 
 and heir to the estate, and were, therefore, like footless birds, hav- 
 ing nothing upon which to alight. 
 
 The pelican, too, appears, ungainly as she is, and is usually repre- 
 sented as "vulning herself," that is, feeding her young with her 
 blood ; and although her story is an old one, it may be that you 
 have not heard it. It is said that " the pelican loveth her young 
 
166 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 Pelican. 
 
 birds, yet when they become haughty and wax hot, they smite her 
 in the face and wound her ; she smiteth again, and so slayeth them. 
 After three days she mourneth for them, and 
 then, striking herself in the side until the blood 
 runneth out, she sprinkleth it upon their bodies, 
 and by virtue thereof they quicken again." 
 
 There is an old brass of a former Dean of 
 Hastings, in Sussex, where a pelican is repre- 
 sented as so feeding her young, and under it is a 
 Latin motto which means, " Thus hath Christ loved us." 
 
 The swan, too, wishes us to remember that he was quite a favor- 
 ite with Dame Heraldry. The earliest use of the swan known in 
 England is on the shield of the Bohun family, to whom it descended 
 from some very early ancestor of the name of 
 Swann. They have handed it down, usually as 
 a crest or badge, to a great many noted English 
 families, like the Nevilles, the Staffords, and 
 the Beauchamps. Bat on the Continent, espec- 
 ially in Germany, it is associated with a very 
 pretty and very old legend, and the noble family who bear the 
 arms of the Duke of Cleves sent it to England on the coat-of- 
 arms of one of Henry VIII. 's many brides, Anne of Cleves, and 
 from her shield the white swan passed to the British tavern- 
 board signs. 
 
 Many centuries ago lived Beatrice, the only daughter of the 
 Duke of Cleves, at her castle of Nymwegen, on the Rhine. It was 
 one morning when the sun was shining brilliantly that she sat sing- 
 ing by a window that overlooked the river. Suddenly she stopped 
 
 Bohun. 
 
OTHER DECORATIONS, TAKEN FROM LIVING OBJECTS. 167 
 
 her little song, for a singular object had appeared, just coming 
 around a bend in the river. 
 
 But before we tell you what she saw, we must let you know that 
 about this time, but far away from the Rhine, there lived a noble 
 and handsome prince, named Helios, and although we will not 
 trouble ourselves much about the pedigree of the fair singer, 
 Beatrice, we shall have to learn a little about that of Helios, so as 
 to really appreciate Queen Anne's gift to the inn-keepers of Merrie 
 England. 
 
 In this country where Helios was born there was once a king 
 who married the daughter of another royal personage. She was 
 very pretty, but I am sorry to say had no better a disposition than 
 many other pretty young damsels have who are not of the blood 
 royal. But, amiable or vixenish, she loved her husband, and by 
 and by a very noble young son grew up in their castle, and he car- 
 ried joy to the hearts of his parents in whatever he did. Then the 
 father died, and the young prince, who had never seen any one 
 whom he loved better than his mother, became king, and the two 
 lived in the great palace. One day the king was hunting in the 
 forest, and, as all kings in fairy tales are apt to do, he lost his way 
 in his own familiar woods. He rode hither and thither, but, no 
 egress from the leafy prison being discernible, he dismounted by the 
 first bubbling fountain that he happened to see, and tried to cool 
 and comfort his bewildered self, and strengthen his drooping horse. 
 As in this plight he sat, a very melancholy knight by a very beauti- 
 ful stream, a lovely young lady, whose name was Beatrice, appeared, 
 and with her a damsel or two, and a knight. They conducted the 
 monarch back to his palace, and the king, being smitten with love 
 
168 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 at first sight, married the fair Beatrice. Now the Queen-mother's 
 evil temper, that had been lying dormant during the years of her 
 prosperity, suddenly began to make its claws do active service for 
 its unfortunate possessor. This piece of pink and white prettiness 
 was a very unwelcome addition, so the mother-in-law thought, to 
 the royal household, and endure it she would not ; no, never ! So, 
 soon after the wedding, when the king was obliged to start toward 
 some quarter of his realm where insurrection had broken out, he 
 bade his mother take excellent care of his young wife, she promised 
 she would, but with a mental reservation. After a while six little 
 sons and a lovely little daughter, all wearing silver chains about 
 their necks, appeared, but these dear little creatures were, every one 
 of them, hurried off by the Dowager Queen's squire, Marks, who 
 had instructions to drown them, every one, in the swift, deep river. 
 
 But the babies looked so sweetly at him, and were so pretty, that 
 the squire felt his heart swell with pity; murder them he could 
 not; so he carried them into the woods, and when he reached a 
 favorite spot, at a long distance from the royal city, he spread his 
 cloak upon the ground, and upon it laid the seven innocent little 
 beings. Then he departed, but, soon after, a hermit, who lived in a 
 lonely grove near by, happened to pass near the children, and heard 
 the concert of seven voices, which was now being given in vigorous 
 if not melodious accents. He hurried to the spot, and, as soon as 
 he could recover from his surprise, he put them all into his own 
 capacious mantle and bore them to his grotto. He immediately 
 baptized them all, and they lived to grow up charming children. 
 But one, named Helios, being more beautiful and manly than the 
 others, grew to be the old man's darling, and he often took him with 
 
OTHER DECORATIONS, TAKEN FROM LIVING OBJECTS. 169 
 
 him on his begging excursions. During one such absence a yeoman 
 of Queen Malabrune's (for this was the name of the evilly disposed 
 grandmother) chanced to be chasing in the forest, and saw the 
 children playing together near the grotto, and eating wild apples. 
 The unusual sight of costly silver chains about the necks of such 
 poverty-stricken little people astonished him, and upon his return 
 to the castle he told Queen Malabrune. Her wicked heart was 
 assured by her good memory that these were her grandchildren, and 
 she bade him take six trusty followers and slay them. This he 
 started to do, but the beauty of the children again softened the 
 hearts of the would-be executioners, and, instead, they simply 
 wrenched off their silver chains. These they gave to Malabrune, 
 with some plausible tale. But, alas for the children ! upon losing 
 their chains they were immediately transformed into white swans, 
 and with many mournful cries they spread their wings and flew 
 away. The hermit was now informed by an angel whose the chil- 
 dren were, so he took Helios to the castle, confronted the wicked 
 old Queen with the tale of her sinful deeds, and rescued Beatrice, 
 who, upon false charges made by her mother-in-law, was about to be 
 killed. Helios then took the silver chains, and made a solemn vow 
 to visit every pond and lake until his missing brothers and sister 
 should be found. Just before starting, however, they suddenly 
 appeared upon the lake in the royal park, and came with many 
 demonstrations of delight to meet him. As he embraced them he 
 slipped the chains over their necks, and they were again his darling 
 companions — all save one; for Malabrune had melted one of the 
 chains so as to make a silver goblet. After enjoying himself with 
 them for some time, Helios felt his spirit stir within him, and one 
 
170 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 day he saw the solitary swan, drawing a boat, approach the shore of 
 the lake. It began to cry to him, and persuaded him to enter the 
 little skiff. As he did so, Helios bade his parents and his friends a 
 long adieu, and, carrying his arms and his silver shield, with a cross 
 of gold upon it, was soon in the boat, which the white swan rapidly 
 drew away. Day after day they sailed, until they reached the 
 Rhine, and after a few more days of sailing they turned a sharp and 
 rocky cape that cut deeply into the river, and he saw the picturesque 
 turrets of a castle. 
 
 Now we will go back to our little princess, who was gazing 
 out of her window and watching with so much interest an 
 object that was sailing along the river towards the castle. As 
 it drew nearer, and still nearer, her curious eyes discovered that 
 it was a boat, and moving — not by the vigorous use of oars, 
 but drawn by a snow-white swan, attached by a golden chain 
 to the prow of the boat. In this vessel Helios sat. As they 
 reached the castle, the swan drew the boat to the shore, and our 
 hero sprang upon the ground. He met the maiden, and, winning 
 her heart, married her, and became the Duke of Cleves. For 
 many 3 r ears they lived most happily together, but there was a 
 Bluebeard's Chamber in her life ; her husband, in marrying her, told 
 her he could do so only on one condition, and that was that no 
 questions should ever be asked by her as to who he was, or from 
 whence he came. At first her present happiness was so great that 
 the command imposed upon her never caused her a moment's 
 thought ; but her curiosity, or, if she had none, perhaps that of 
 Mrs. Grundy, who, no doubt, had as frisky a tongue then as now, 
 prompted her to solve the much debated question. So it was that 
 
OTHER DECORATIONS, TAKEN FROM LIVING OBJECTS. 171 
 
 Duke of Devonshire. 
 
 upon a dark day the dreadful question was propounded by the luck- 
 less wife. Very sorrowfully then did the handsome, nameless knight 
 rise up. He gently rebuked his inquisitive wife, took his sword, 
 and, calling for his children, put into their little hands his sword, his 
 horn, and his ring, bidding them never to lose them. As he did so, he 
 kissed them very lovingly, and, with a last adieu 
 to his wailing wife, down he went to the sedgy 
 bank of the Rhine. Instantly the swan appeared 
 at the bend of the river, drawing the tiny shallop 
 after it. On seeing Helios it uttered loud cries 
 of joy, and hastened towards him. Helios sprang 
 into the boat, and, waving a last farewell to the 
 watching and lamenting group on the bank, he was gone forever. 
 
 Then you will often see the stag's head, cut off at the ears, as in 
 the shields of both the Duke of Devonshire and Lord Derby. 
 
 The Bull's Head, too, was worn as a crest by the Bulstrodes. 
 They can tell, if they will, their little legend, and, as in regard to 
 all these marvellous tales so linked with many of the names in an 
 ancient pedigree, you may be credulous or not. 
 
 When William the Conqueror at last made himself master of the 
 British Isles, he gave the estate of this family to one of his own 
 followers : and to enable him not only to drive off the former pro- 
 prietors, but to keep possession of the gift, he lent him the help of a 
 thousand stalwart soldiers. Now, the rightful owner of this bit of 
 coveted property did not feel satisfied with this "without your 
 leave " disposal of his lands, and therefore, calling in the aid of 
 some sympathizing neighbors, and throwing up earthworks, one of 
 which is still pointed out, he defended himself. The well armed 
 
172 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 Normans were gradually overcoming their % resistance, when he and 
 his comrades determined to make a sortie. Lacking horses, they 
 mounted themselves on bulls, with which, to an unprecedented 
 degree, they seem to have been provided, and fell upon their ene- 
 mies. The besiegers were taken unawares, and, hearing the fright- 
 ful bellowing mingling with the outlandish outcries of the riders, 
 and seeing the dreadful capers of the beasts, who themselves were 
 well nigh frantic with their novel occupation, became so affrighted 
 that, hurrying to flee from what seemed the imps of hell themselves, 
 they fell upon and under each other, and were thus trampled or 
 slashed to death. Those that were not slain put their trust in their 
 
 heels, and rescued themselves by flight. 
 The Conqueror, upon hearing of this, 
 felt some curiosity to see the wrathful 
 and inventive defender of his estates, 
 and, promising him a safe-conduct to 
 and back from the Norman camp, per- 
 suaded the hardy Saxon to make him a 
 visit. This he did, riding upon a bull, 
 and followed by his family of seven 
 sons, equally well mounted. As a 
 result of the interview, the property 
 was allowed to remain with its original 
 owner, and the well satisfied Saxon re j 
 turned home to receive the congratula- 
 tions of his good-hearted neighbors, and 
 to announce to them the name that henceforth it was his intention 
 to assume — Bulstrode ! The crest is such as may be seen, a bull's 
 
 Bulstrode. 
 
OTHER DECORATIONS, TAKEN FROM LIVING OBJECTS. 173 
 
 head. The good heraldist who repeats this tale whispers something 
 
 about its being something like what is called a " cock and bull " 
 
 story, but the family resent that intimation, and repeat a little 
 
 couplet which they preserve to prove their ancient lineage : — 
 
 " When William conquered English ground 
 Bulstrode had per annum three hundred pound." 
 
 The old Swiss cantons of Uri and Valais, the purest popular 
 government known, have existed for more than a thousand years. 
 Every spring, the little army of Uri, bearing a banner of " the bull's 
 head," marches to a green meadow among the mountains ; all the 
 men of lawful age following on foot, the magistrates on horseback, 
 and the chief magistrate bearing a sword. Reaching the meadow, 
 the people gather around the chief ruler ; there is a brief pause of 
 silent prayer ; and then and there, in the general assembly of the 
 people, the magistrates resign their trusts, the chief magistrate 
 delivers up the sword of his office, leaves the chair, and takes his 
 place with the other citizens. If he has served 
 them well, they bid him take the chair again ; 
 for there is no rule that he may not be re-elected. 
 
 Old Ocean, too, has treated the shields of the 
 old noblesse with a lavish hand. The dolphin has 
 a truly royal curve in his august little back. 
 He was adopted as a device by the young 
 Dauphin of France who afterwards became Charles V. of France. 
 If you will look upon a map of France, you will notice three little 
 "departments," as they are called, tucked snugly away in the south- 
 eastern corner — Hautes Alpes, Isere, and Dr6me. In olden times 
 these formed the Province of Dauphine', a most fertile and sunny bit 
 
 Dauphin. 
 
174 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 of France, and when given by Louis the Bavarian to Guy VIII., of the 
 noble house of La Tour de Pin, the honored knight rejoiced greatly 
 over his good-fortune. On his shield he bore for a device a 
 dolphin, and for this reason called his new possessions " DauphineY' 
 Many years after this, one of his descendants found himself sud- 
 denly bereft of an only son, and, in his despair and grief, renounced 
 his claim to this fair inheritance, and offered it to the French 
 King Philip the Sixth. When making the gift — if such it could 
 be called, when a sum of money was to be given in exchange, — 
 he padded it well with conditions; but the French king was so 
 delighted with the idea of so largely increasing the extent of his 
 dominions, that he accepted the offer, encumbrances and all. It 
 is needless to say that, the recipient being a monarch, the "condi- 
 tions" faded completely from the royal memory — all but one. It 
 was expressly stipulated that so long as there were heirs to the 
 French throne, so long the eldest son should bear the name of 
 n Dauphin. The grandson of Philip bore it, and 
 
 all his successors, until the Due d'Angouleme 
 
 abandoned it in 1830. 
 
 The lucy, or pike, was worn by the family 
 
 so dear to the heart of Shakespeare, and whose 
 
 country-seat perhaps those of you who have 
 Lucy ' visited Shakespeare's home, in Stratford-on- 
 
 Avon, will remember passing when riding from the quaint little 
 town towards Leamington. 
 
 As for the escallop shell, Pope Alexander IV., in the thirteenth 
 century, forbade all but pilgrims who were truly noble the right of 
 placing this charge upon their shields. When it is seen on a coat- 
 
OTHER DECORATIONS, TAKEN FR,( 
 
 tNG OBJECTS. 
 
 175 
 
 of-arms it usually means that the family claim a drop or two of 
 old Crusader blood. 
 
 The Earls of Clarendon wear them as their device upon a red 
 cross, as a souvenir of the crusade under Edward I. 
 
 Then the mythical animals — strange hobgoblin beasts — some 
 with scaly bodies and bat-like wings; others, part horse, part lion; 
 many of them, creations of the Saracen imagina- 
 tion ; others, brought from sources nearer home. 
 
 The unicorn was introduced by the Anglo- 
 Saxons into Britain on one of their standards, 
 and was then carried into Scotland by their 
 descendants, when William the Conqueror drove 
 them out of England, and was then selected clarendon, 
 
 as supporter for the Scottish shield. In the place it now holds, 
 as part of the royal arms of Great Britain, it is represented as 
 the guardian of Virtue, while the Dragon is that of Wealth. 
 
 His horn in olden times was thought to be an infallible test of 
 poison, and on this account the wild beasts of the forest wisely 
 constituted him " Water Conner," and never ventured to slake their 
 thirst until, with his horn, the unicorn had stirred up the water to 
 see if serpent or dragon had, with malicious intent, therein depos- 
 ited his poison. To catch him it was said to be necessary to find 
 the glade that he haunted, and there to place a beautiful woman. 
 When the unicorn, pressed by the hunters, rushed by, it was 
 expected he would see the woman. If he but once caught sight of 
 her, he would instantly lose all his fierceness, and, seeking protection 
 of her, sleep at her feet until he was taken and slain. 
 
 When England and Scotland were united under James I., one 
 
176 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 of the silver unicorns was taken from the supporters of the Scottish 
 shield, and one of the golden lions from the English insignia, and 
 placed one on either side of the British shield. 
 
 The body of man himself was not excused from the covetous fin- 
 gers of the heraldic painter. The Heart of Bruce appears again and 
 again on Scottish shields. This honorable position it owes to the 
 good Sir James Douglas, better known perhaps to our boys and 
 girls as the "Black Douglas," whose mailed hand was laid so 
 heavily on the shoulder of that poor, affrighted mother who, in 
 the fancied security of some castle stronghold, was crooning her 
 baby to sleep : — 
 
 " Hush ye, hush ye, little pet ye, 
 Hush ye, hush ye, do not fret ye, 
 The Black Douglas shall not get ye ! " 
 
 You remember how he suggested to her the foolishness of 
 trusting in any such delusion. But though he slew many that 
 night, he showed his right to be called the " Good Sir James," in 
 that he protected the hapless mother and her babe. 
 
 This warlike knight was, of all his followers, the dearest to the 
 noble Bruce. As this renowned king lay dying, he told his knights 
 of a longing he had always felt to make a pilgrimage to the Holy 
 Land; but the Lord, he said, had given him so much else to do that 
 he never had been able to undertake the journey, and he begged 
 Sir James, as his most trusted and best beloved knight, to carry 
 his embalmed heart to Jerusalem, and bury it under holy soil. 
 When the good knight could so far control his bitter weeping as 
 to be able to speak, he said : — 
 
 "Gallant and noble king, I return you a hundred thousand 
 
OTHER DECORATIONS, TAKEN FROM LIVING OBJECTS. 177 
 
 thanks for the high honor you do me, and for the valuable and dear 
 treasure with which you entrust me ; and I will most willingly do 
 all that you command me, with the utmost loyalty in my power. 
 Never doubt it, however I may feel myself unworthy of such a high 
 distinction." 
 
 The king replied : " Gallant knight, I thank you ; you promise it 
 me, then ? " 
 
 "Certainly, sir;. most willingly," answered the knight. He then 
 gave his promise upon his knighthood. 
 
 The king said, " Thanks be to God ! for I shall die in peace, 
 since I know that the most valiant and accomplished knight in my 
 kingdom will perform that for me which I am unable to do for 
 myself." 
 
 The Bruce died, and Douglas had his heart carefully taken out, 
 and embalmed with the most potent spices and perfumes ; he then 
 laid it within a silver case, which, after being padlocked, he hung 
 about his neck, on a cord of twisted silk and gold. Then, with a 
 long train of the most gallant of Scotland's knights, he set forth on 
 his long and wearisome pilgrimage. Long and wearisome it was 
 but harder to bear did his faithful followers find the mournful 
 sequence of the expedition ; for the good Sir James never saw Scot- 
 land's glens and moors again. His body, wrapped in many folds of 
 cloth-of-gold, was brought back by them, and now rests in the little 
 old church of St. Bride. 
 
 On his way to the Holy Land, while still strong and vigorous, 
 the vessel carrying Sir James and his knights touched the coasts of 
 Spain. King Alfonso, the Spanish monarch, was at that time re- 
 sisting with all his might the invading hosts of the Moors, and, 
 
178 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 learning of the arrival of the great Scottish chieftain, whose prowess 
 in battle was so remarkable, he immediately hastened to receive him 
 with all possible honor, hoping to persuade him to unite with him 
 in ridding Spain of the hated Infidel. He represented to him what 
 great service he would render to the Christian cause if he would 
 pause before continuing his voyage to the Holy Land, and help him 
 drive out the Saracen Infidel of Granada. 
 
 The Douglas agreed to do so ; but the eastern mode of warfare 
 was unfamiliar to these valiant mountaineers, and the Scottish ranks 
 became broken and scattered. Douglas, as he was dashing forward 
 to the rescue of some of his companions, whom he saw sadly beset 
 by the savage Moors, found himself hopelessly surrounded b}' his 
 enemies. He seized the heart of Bruce, tore it from his neck, and, 
 exclaiming, " Pass first in fight, as thou wert wont to do, and 
 Douglas will follow thee, or die ! " he flung the silver treasure far 
 before him, in the centre of the opposing host, and, rushing towards 
 it, fell, pierced by many a spear. 
 
 This is a sad close to the life of so mighty a warrior as was Good 
 Sir James. He is said to have fought, in the space of twenty-four 
 years, fifty-seven battles with the English, and thirteen with the 
 Saracens. "Certes," exclaims one of his biographers, "he must 
 have been one of the noblest ' butchers ' of them all." 
 
 Remembering his gallant death, the Douglases have ever since 
 that time worn a bloody heart bearing a crown upon it. 
 
 One thing was quite remarkable about the appearance of Sir 
 James. Although he had been engaged in so many wars, his face 
 had never been scratched, and some brave Spanish knight, whose 
 visage bore marks of many bloody and horrible fights, could not 
 
OTHER DECORATIONS, TAKEN FROM LIVING OBJECTS. 
 
 179 
 
 Douglas. 
 
 
 refrain from asking him how he so escaped. The Douglas replied 
 that he thanked God for having always enabled his hands to guard 
 and protect his face ! 
 
 Whenever you see this crowned heart, you can always recall this 
 tale of the swarthy old hero ; for, in some way or 
 other, every such coat-of-arms is connected, either 
 by blood or by association, with this Black Doug- 
 las, or with the Bruce himself. 
 
 Sir Simon Lockhard of Lee was among the 
 knights that accompanied Douglas on his mission, 
 and was entrusted with the care of the heart of 
 Bruce when Douglas fell in Spain. He brought it back to Scotland, 
 and buried it in Melrose Abbey. In honor of this trust, he adopted 
 for his device a man's heart with a padlock upon 
 it, — Brace's heart having been padlocked in the 
 silver case, — and men called him thenceforward 
 Sir Simon Lockhart, instead of Lockhard, as for- 
 merly. 
 
 The heart of Bruce appears again and again. 
 And, besides the heart, we have the bloody hand 
 — that of Ulster. This, upon a small escutcheon, appears upon 
 every coat-of-arms that belongs to a baronet, and has given rise to 
 solemn and fearful whispers amongst the unlearned. 
 
 It has been stated as a dreadful fact that murders have been 
 committed by scoundrelly ancestors of the unfortunate family dis- 
 playing this device, and the suffering descendants are compelled to 
 wear this ignominious evidence of their shame. To rid themselves 
 of it is almost an impossibility ; still, if the owner, or a more than 
 
 Lockhart. 
 
180 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 brotherly friend of the owner, can be found who will agree to pass 
 seven long, dark years in a cave, without speaking to any one, or 
 cutting his nails and beard, during the entire time, then can the 
 shield be wiped of its stain, and the family forget the blemish. 
 
 The formation of the Order of Baronets was a financial operation 
 of James the First's, money being sorely needed in the royal 
 treasury. Permission to bear the title is regarded as a special 
 evidence of royal favor, so that this hand is really a mark of honor. 
 It is derived from the arms of the Province of Ulster, in Ireland, 
 the defence and colonization of which was the plea by which the 
 king was persuaded to create the new order. 
 
 The men of Ulster are proud of their device, and, after giving 
 you their motto, are very willing to tell you the credited tale of 
 Red Hand of ulster. " Lamh dearg Erien," — The Red Hand of Ire- 
 land. Far back in those days when most of 
 these tales had their rise, an expedition of some 
 adventurers to Ireland set forth, and, in order to 
 shorten the perilous voyage, the leader declared 
 that whoever first touched the shore should be 
 lord of the territory reached. O'Neil, ancestor of 
 
 Isham — Baronet. 
 
 the princes of Ulster, vowed he would carry off the prize, and every 
 stroke of his oars seemed to promise success. But there were other 
 hardy and muscular contestants, and, to his intense chagrin, just as 
 they neared the shore, another boat shot past his own. A moment 
 more, and the O'Neils would never be the powerful princes of this 
 Irish land that the ambitious soldier craved to make them ; so 
 he bent with greater energy than before to his oars ; but, in spite 
 of all his efforts, he could not drive his boat at greater speed 
 
 
OTHER DECORATIONS, TAKEN FROM LIVING OBJECTS. 
 
 181 
 
 through the billows — he was almost exhausted. The arm of the 
 soldier was wearied ; his brain was as active as ever. A thought 
 flashed through his mind — he would be victor yet; and with feverish 
 haste he grasped his sword ; then, just as his competitors were rais- 
 ing a shout of derisive triumph, a brawny, bleeding hand went 
 whirling over their heads, spattering them with drops fresh from 
 O'Neil's bold heart; and before the boat-keel of the astonished 
 mariners could scrape the gravelly beach, there, 
 on the green turf, far beyond the reach of the 
 tide, it lay, and the province was declared to 
 belong to O'Neil. 
 
 Then the coat-of-arms belonging to the Isle of 
 Man, which in this case should be styled a coat- 
 of-legs. Three legs intertwined appear upon its 
 shield, and one sunny old chronicler remarks that "if he might be 
 permitted to be jocular upon so grave a subject as armory, he should 
 consider the coat a happy allusion to the geographical position of 
 the island, as it lies between the three kingdoms of England, Scot- 
 land, and Ireland, — as if it had run away from all three, and were 
 kicking up its heels in derision of the whole empire ! " 
 
 Isle of Man. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 DECORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. 
 
 The reigns of Kenneth and Malcolm in Scotland, according to 
 the traditions of many eminent Scottish families, seem to have been 
 rich in warlike episodes that deserved and received immediate 
 recognition at the hands of their sovereign. The Dalziel family are 
 so fortunate as to have had some relative who knew just what to do 
 and when to do it at that early day. Those miserable Picts had 
 been again and again tormenting the life of good King Malcolm, 
 and finally they succeeded in getting possession of some favorite 
 cousin of the king, and ignominiously hanged him on a tree. This 
 was a most disgraceful death ; and the king, both grieved and in- 
 censed that the body of his relative should remain there exposed 
 to the ridicule of all passers-by, offered a great reward to any one 
 who should get the poor corpse and bring it to him. For some 
 reason this was a most hazardous enterprise ; and, although the 
 reward offered was great, no one seemed ready to run the chances 
 of exchanging places with even the dead favorite of a king. At 
 last one gallant subject presented himself before the king, exclaim- 
 ing " Dalziel," which in the old Gaelic language signified " I dare." 
 And dare he did ; and with such address did he execute his enter- 
 prise that the king, before long, had the satisfaction of getting his 
 cousin's bones laid wherever he desired. He not only paid the 
 reward promised, but gave him his present coat-of-arms, with the 
 
 182 
 
DECORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. 183 
 
 motto " I dare," and permitted the soldier thenceforth to be called 
 "Dalziel." He was the ancestor of the Earls of Carnwarth. 
 
 Flowers, too, have been gathered to beautify the shield, and a 
 fallen foe on the field of battle often saw Death staring at him out 
 of the hearts of white or crimson roses, or grinning in the cup 
 of a golden lily. 
 
 The Wars of the Roses, as you all know, were so called because 
 the rival houses of York and Lancaster wore the rose of different 
 tint, each upon his shield. Very likely, some of you have stood 
 upon the grassy lawn of old Temple Garden, and perhaps have been 
 so story-wise as almost to see Plantagenet, the hot Duke of York, 
 tear a white rose from its bush, and could hear him say : — 
 
 " Let him that is a true-born gentleman, 
 And stands upon the honor of his birth, 
 If he suppose that I have pleaded truth, 
 From off this brier pluck a white rose with me " — 
 
 and then seen his vengeance-breathing adversary, Beaufort, Duke of 
 Somerset, the proud Lancastrian, stride to the bush crimson with 
 flowers, and, as he broke one from its stem, hear him retort : — 
 
 "Let him that is no coward, nor no flatterer, 
 But dare maintain the party of the truth, 
 Pluck a red rose from off this stem with me." 
 
 It was not until the days of Henry VII., who wedded Elizabeth, 
 the fair Yorkist, that the two roses ceased to represent opposing 
 factions, and in forming what is called the Tudor rose — quarterly 
 silver and red — obliterated all but the memories of forgiven feuds. 
 
 Many are the coats-of-arms on which you will find a rose red or 
 white, and usually a reason can be given for the bearing of the 
 
184 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 Neville, Marquis of 
 Abergavenny. 
 
 same. Upon the shield of the Marquis of Abergavenny, whose 
 ivy-covered country-seat perhaps you have seen, between Tunbridge 
 and London, is displayed a red rose upon the centre of his cross. 
 He is the descendant of the mighty king-maker, 
 Richard, Earl of Warwick, who placed the red 
 rose plucked from the Temple Gardens on the 
 centre of his shield, to show his glad allegiance 
 to the House of York (?). 
 
 Edward the Fourth heightened the brilliancy 
 of his white rose by making it a rose-en-soleil — 
 that is, a sun shining behind the rose. The rose was placed by him 
 in a sun, in memory of his victory at the battle of Mortimer's Cross 
 (1471), when he was Earl of March. Happening to face the sun, 
 in the glare that dazzled his eyes, he exclaimed, — 
 
 " Dazzle mine eyes, or do I see three suns ? " 
 Richard answered : — 
 
 " Three glorious suns, each one a perfect sun ; 
 Not separated with the racking clouds, 
 But sever'd in a pale clear-shining sky. 
 See, see ! they join, embrace, and seem to kiss, 
 As if they vowed some league inviolable : 
 Now are they but one light, one lamp, one sun! 
 In this the heaven figures some event." 
 
 The strong resemblance between this badge and that of the Earl of 
 Oxford, who bore a silver mullet, or spur, was the cause of a most 
 disastrous defeat for the House of York. The battle was one be- 
 tween the Earl of Warwick, who supported the kingly rights of 
 Henry VI. to the English crown, and Edward IV., who strove to 
 make good his claim to the sovereignty of England. The Earl of 
 
DECORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. 185 
 
 Oxford, by his impetuous valor, had turned the success of the day 
 in Warwick's favor. This was inspiring news to Warwick, and, 
 eager to close the fray with a complete rout of the foe, he hurried 
 with his men to join his victorious ally. But the light was treach- 
 erous ; it was one of those days, so common to the English climate 
 when fog and drizzling rain thicken the atmosphere and distort 
 all objects. The followers of the opposing sides wore conspicuously 
 on their arms the badges of the leaders that they followed, and 
 through the mists the star of Oxford was magnified until, coming 
 suddenly upon his allies, Warwick and his followers were terrified 
 with the belief that the hosts of Edward were around them. The 
 star to them was the rose-en-soleil. In the terror inspired by such 
 a delusion, they fell upon the seeming foe, who, recognizing War- 
 wick's " Bear and Ragged Staff," cried, " Treason ! Treason, we are 
 all betrayed," and forsook the field. Warwick's great form was 
 stretched, dabbled with gore, upon the battle- 
 ground, and Edward IV. was victor. 
 
 This star of Oxford, which for many years 
 was a prominent decoration on the shield belong- 
 ing to the De Veres, is traced back to the old 
 Crusader days : — ^s(jjP^ 
 
 "In the year of our Lord 1098," saith our Earl I>elaVere - 
 authority, "Corborant, Admiral to Soudan in Persia, was fought 
 with at Antioch, and discomfited by the Christians. The night com- 
 ing on in the chase of this battle, and waxing dark, the Christians 
 being four miles from Antioch, God, willing the safety of the Chris- 
 tians, showed a white star, or mullet, of five points, on the Christian 
 host, which to every man's sight did light, and arrest upon the 
 
186 DAME 11 ERA LDUY. 
 
 standard of Aubrey de Vere, there shining excessively." This 
 mullet was afterwards used by his descendants as a badge. 
 
 Then the lilies ! — see how the ancient shield of France blossoms 
 like the tomb of Mary, so rich is it not only with the fleur-de-lys, 
 but with the legends connected with it. 
 
 As the rose is dear to English hearts, so is the lily beloved by 
 the French. They boast of a supernatural origin to the device, that 
 formerly powdered their national coat-of-arms, affirming it to have 
 been sent from Heaven with the Sainte Ampoule, or Holy Oil, kept 
 and used at Rheims for the coronation of their kings. The supposed 
 heavenly significance of the flower is this, " They toil not, neither 
 do they spin," — which, translated into broad and ungallant Eng- 
 lish, is to intimate that the crown of France would never be worn 
 either by the ignoble or by woman ! 
 
 The angel who brought it carried it to Clovis to seal a contract 
 made by him with the Heavenly Powers on the eve of a great bat- 
 tle near Cologne, when he swore a solemn oath that, should success 
 be his, from that time forth the Christian faith should become his 
 own. The day was his, and, true to his vow, there, surrounded by 
 the dead and dying, with the shout of the victorious troops and the 
 moaning of the wounded filling the air with 
 tumult, he received the Lily, which for so many 
 centuries has been the pride of France. The 
 shield, from being powdered with the blossoms, 
 was in the time of Charles VI. reduced to dis- 
 France. Paying on ly three. Notwithstanding this pretty 
 
 tale, it is possible, at least to the practical English mind of the 
 present day, to believe that, Clovis being the original form of 
 
DECORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. 187 
 
 Louis, the flower resembling it in name was adopted. Such names 
 were always so exceedingly popular that one English family named 
 Botreux, though fortunate in having a coat-of-arms, decided that, 
 Botreux signifying in Welsh a frog, it would be better to change 
 their escutcheon, which was composed of the simple lines with 
 which we are familiar, to a coat upon which three frogs should be 
 displayed. 
 
 But so long as there are Frenchmen left to "charge for the 
 golden lilies upon them with the lance," so long will France con- 
 tinue to give the lie direct to any envious Briton " who, behind his 
 skulking leopard shield," denies the heavenly gift to France ! 
 
 For many years this coat-of-arms of France was quartered upon 
 the English shield, and it was not until even so late as the birth- 
 year of this century — when the arms of England, Ireland, and Scot- 
 land were finally united — that the right to wear the French arms 
 was resigned. 
 
 The fleur-de-lys has been considered an emblem of the Trinity ; 
 and this, perhaps, was the reason why it was afterwards used, and 
 still continues to be, as an ornament in the crowns of almost all 
 Christian sovereigns. 
 
 The Planta Genista, too, must not be forgotton, as the name of 
 one of England's most famous royal families was found in this little 
 plant. 
 
 The father of Henry II. of England was Geoffrey of Anjou, a 
 devout Catholic and a brave knight, — but, being mortal, he did not 
 always " resist the devil " as he should have done, and, listening to 
 his evil counsels, the good Geoffrey found his conscience growing to 
 be a terrible companion during wakeful nights. The crime which 
 
188 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 caused these burnings and prickings within him finally became so 
 heinous in his sight that, making birches of green broom, he would 
 ever and anon severely flagellate himself with them. Then, that all 
 men might see how sincere his contrition was, he placed a branch of 
 it in his helmet and wore it for his crest. His son Henry, honoring 
 the Christian spirit displayed by his father, adopted it for his de- 
 vice ; and thus originated the line of kings known as " Plantage- 
 nets." 
 
 Another blossom favored by royalty is rue. Upon the coat-of- 
 arms belonging to the Prince of Wales is a small inescutcheon 
 belonging to Saxony. Over this inescutcheon is 
 thrown a wreath of the plant called rue. How it 
 came to be there, we are told, was through the 
 goodness of Frederic Barbarossa. When this 
 powerful individual conferred upon Bernard the 
 dukedom of Anhalt, the duke begged the em- 
 peror to place some mark upon his shield that 
 would distinguish it from that of his predecessors. So Frederic, 
 being in a friendly mood, took a wreath of rue that rested on his 
 head, and dropped it over the shield. From that time it became 
 part of the arms of Anhalt, and is borne by the Prince of Wales as 
 an inescutcheon upon his arms. 
 
 The flower chosen by Scotland is the Thistle. The Danes were 
 a constant nightmare to the Scots of early days. Just when they 
 were least expected did they suddenly appear before some exposed 
 seaboard fortress or helpless town, pillage and burn it, and then, 
 with their booty, and promises of speedy return, vanish across the 
 stormy seas that separated the countries. It was during the reign 
 
DECORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. 189 
 
 of King Malcolm I. of Scotland, in the remote days of the eleventh 
 century, that a band of these bold marauders stealthily dragged 
 their boats up the rocky shore of eastern Scotland, and, hiding 
 themselves in the caverns and grottos, awaited a favorable night 
 for a sudden attack upon a large and well provisioned fortress in the 
 neighborhood. Such a night soon came. There was no moon, and 
 heavy clouds hid the stars. The band were quietly collected to- 
 gether by the chief, and the path leading to the object of their visit 
 was swiftly and silently traversed. Then, armed with scaling-lad- 
 ders, and their weapons ready for use, they felt as though they 
 could almost raise the cry of the victor. 
 
 The moat alone remained for them to swim across, and not a 
 guard appeared to be awake ; the whole garrison lay in tranquil 
 rest, and the invaders crept cautiously down from the bank into the 
 moat, ready to softly plunge into the water the moment the first 
 cool drops should lap their naked, unrighteous legs. So secure! — so 
 quiet ! But where was the water ? Another cautious step down- 
 ward, then another ; — in an instant their own involuntary yell 
 aroused the whole garrison — every sentinel was at his post — lights 
 were swung hither and thither, and with the burrs of the thistles, 
 which filled the waterless moat, sticking and stinging in their feet, 
 and showers of arrows galling them in front, the Danes were driven 
 back to their boats, with as much slaughter as the darkness would 
 permit. 
 
 The motto of the Knights of the Thistle is supposed to allude to 
 this, "Nemo me impune lacessit" — "No one injures me with im- 
 punity." 
 
 These are the flowers that kings and queens have delighted to 
 
190 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 honor. But there are other favored blossoms that Dame Heraldry- 
 has gathered for her adornment; such as the primrose, which, if 
 not the darling of the throne, is at least a favorite with some of 
 England's noble lords. Just now it has a certain queer odor, that 
 suggests political caucuses, stormy electioneering processions, and 
 visions of campaigns where lovely, audacious woman wins votes 
 without number for aspiring candidates, as a return for lavishly 
 scattered smiles and coaxing words of witchery. Another modest 
 little flower calls our attention also in a peculiar way to itself, 
 nodding as it does in the crest of a worthy Frenchman, whom Louis 
 XVI. was proud to own as a subject. But, though worn by a 
 Frenchman, it is a flower whose good points are daily discussed, not 
 only by the polite of the earth, but by every strapping inhabitant 
 on the green isle of Erin. 
 
 If it were the stomachs, and not the hearts of all good Irishmen, 
 that were to discriminate between the merits of the Blessed Sham- 
 rock, sacred to the memory of good St. Patrick, and the little potato- 
 blossom, I very much doubt if the leaf would hold its own against 
 the claims of the flower as the badge of Ireland. This year (1886), 
 in the little French town of Montdidier, is to be held the centenary 
 celebration of its introduction by Parmentier into France. Long 
 after Sir Walter Raleigh had brought it to Great Britain, this 
 Frenchman, M. Parmentier, tried to popularize the plant in France. 
 But the Catholic clergy despised it as a proffered gift from heretical 
 England, and the peasantry conceived the idea that leprosy was the 
 sure result of too much indulgence in eating it. The courtly fops 
 of the day made it the butt of many jokes, and it finally even 
 became treason to plant it in French soil ! But Parmentier, who 
 
DECORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. 191 
 
 was an insignificant apothecary in the king's employ, contrived to 
 keep one of the plants alive in a pot in his room, and occasionally 
 was so bold as to sport one of its blossoms in his button-hole. The 
 king, happening to observe this one day, was curious to know the 
 name of the singular-looking flower. He questioned the druggist, 
 who, recognizing this as the supreme moment for his pet hobby, 
 poured fourth such a stream of eloquence in praise of its many 
 merits that the king issued orders for a ro} r al potato-banquet, to 
 which all the leading Parisian scientists should be bidden. They, 
 with himself, should discuss the merits, by taste, of this much 
 maligned and much praised tuber. The result was an instanta- 
 neous introduction of the vegetable upon all the tables of the 
 epicurean fashionable of Paris. The king had pronounced it 
 "good," and not a courtier was to be found who dared to differ 
 from his sovereign upon that point. But the fear of "leprosy," and 
 whatever other kindred notions the common folk had attached to 
 the plant, were not so easily banished. Poor Parmentier, in his zeal, 
 became "so thin that there was nothing left of him but just his 
 bones and skin." Finally, he decided to purchase a large tract of 
 land. This he planted with a plentiful supply of potatoes, and as 
 the plants matured, and the day approached for the gathering-in of 
 the harvest, he secured a body of gendarmes, and stationed 
 them around the field. There they stood, from the moment that 
 the sky began to redden in the east, until the sun sank behind the 
 low hills in the west, bayonets pointed, and with grim countenances 
 frowning at the over-curious crowd that gaped and gazed at the 
 singular proceedings. 
 
 Parmentier's theory and the old proverb upon stolen pleasures 
 
192 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 being the sweetest needed but the night to be realized. No sooner 
 had the shades of evening made recognition impossible, than the 
 inquisitive and covetous crowd relieved the enclosure of every 
 potato to be found in the soil. The plant became immensely popu- 
 lar, and the king honored his persistent subject by bestowing a title 
 upon him, and also by permitting him to assume as his crest the 
 flower for which he had made so protracted a contest. 
 
 Trees, also, appeared upon the shield. The old oak upon the coat- 
 of-arms belonging to the Carlos family at one time hid a king, and 
 we will have to relate how it did so. 
 
 The battle of Worcester had been fought, and the royal cause 
 was not the victorious one as the sun began to sink in the western 
 sky. King Charles II. strove to rally his troops, but the effort was 
 so fruitless that he soon saw that, unless he chose to fall a prisoner 
 into the hands of the rebels, he must fly with his retreating troops. 
 This he did, hoping to reach the safe side of the border between 
 England and Scotland. But daylight vanished, and his guide 
 became confused ; so a halt was called, and the Earl of Derby sug- 
 gested to the king that, as they were on the edge of Staffordshire, 
 they might find safety in Boscobel House, which belonged to a most 
 loyal family, of the name of Gifford. He, the noble earl, had been 
 before this obliged to test the hospitality of the noble old mansion — 
 whose name, Bosco Bello, was given it on account of the dense and 
 beautiful woods which surrounded it. One of the Giffords was 
 found, and separating himself, with half a dozen friends, from the 
 army, they hurried thither, stopping for a short time on their way 
 at an old house, once used as a sort of monastery by the Cistercian 
 nuns, and called The Whiteladies, on account of the dress worn by 
 
DECORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. 193 
 
 the household. Here he rubbed soot over his face and hands, 
 changed his clothing from that of his royal station to the common 
 every-day dress of a house-servant, and would gladly have tarried 
 long enough to refresh himself, but a scout brought in the unwel- 
 come tidings that rebel troops were quartered not more than three 
 miles distant. So, in a pouring rain, which even the densest portion 
 of the forest through which it was necessary to go could not pre- 
 vent saturating them to the skin, they tried to reach Wales ; but, 
 notwithstanding the forced night-and-day marches, they found every 
 ford and every highway so guarded that escape, for the time being, 
 was impossible. Now, foot-sore and heart-sore, and, altogether, in a 
 most pitiable condition, they retraced their steps to the friendly 
 shelter of Boscobel. Here they found Colonel Careless, who had 
 been fighting in the king's ranks. He persuaded the king, after 
 strengthening himself with a simple lunch of milk, bread, and 
 cheese, to go back into the woods, as being a place of greater safety, 
 and there, selecting a thick-leaved oak, the king, with Colonel Care- 
 less, concealed himself in it ; while the Penderells, who were ser- 
 vants of the house, brought them such provisions as they could get, 
 and a cushion for the head of the homeless monarch to rest upon. 
 So careful and kind was the honest colonel that when, finally, they 
 succeeded, two or three nights later, in making their way to the 
 house of Colonel Lane, the king changed his name to Carlos, as 
 being more like his own, and granted him a representation of the 
 oak tree which had so perfectly concealed them, with a fesse across 
 it, on which three crowns are placed. 
 
 In connection with this tree is a little incident told about the 
 first coin of New England, which has been called the " Pine Tree 
 
194 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 Shilling." These coins were issued from a New England mint in 
 1651. When Charles II. heard that his enterprising colonists had 
 started a mint all of their own, without asking or receiving his royal 
 permission, this impecunious monarch was thrown into high dud- 
 geon. Sir Charles Temple, a good friend of the colonists, tried to 
 appease the king's wrath, assuring him that the struggling Puritans 
 had thought it no harm to coin money for their own usage ; and 
 taking a few of the shillings from his pocket, showed them to the 
 king. He looked at them, and noticing the tree stamped upon them, 
 inquired what it was. "That," was the adroit reply, "is the Royal 
 Oak that saved your Majesty's life." The king looked more closely 
 at them, listening the while to such explanations as the friendly heart 
 of Sir Charles could suggest ; and then putting the coins, I have no 
 doubt, into his own shrunken pockets, remarked, good-humoredly, 
 that " those colonists were a parcel of honest dogs, after all ! " 
 
 The Wheat Sheaf is a very common device upon the shield of 
 many families in the neighborhood of Chester. Old Ranulphe de 
 Blondville, the first Earl of Chester, having adopted it, the family 
 gradually growing in power and wealth, many other families became 
 attached by feudal alliance to it, and assumed the device, with slight 
 alterations. The Duke of Westminster, whose noble country-seat 
 of Eton Hall, not far from Chester, is so well known to all travel- 
 ling Americans, shows the sheaf upon his shield, he being a 
 descendant of the famous Grosvenor. 
 
 Leaves of plants are also not despised, the trefoil and the 
 cinquefoil often appearing as small charges — but especially does 
 the leaf unfold itself upon such coats-of-arms as those belonging to 
 the Levesons and the Hazelriggs. 
 
DFCORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. 195 
 
 The humble little clover-leaf, or shamrock, of Ireland, for which 
 the Celtic heart has such a deep-seated love, is another of the plants 
 beloved of heralds. Its adoption by Ireland as a badge is con- 
 nected with that blessed saint of the " ould counthry," St. Patrick. 
 
 The shamrock, or trefoil, is an old symbol, greatly used by the 
 Druids in ancient days, and the old Christian monks tell a pious 
 legend in connection with it. They say that after St. Patrick had 
 succeeded in reaching Ireland, he strove diligently to sow the good 
 seed of the new religion in the hearts of the Irish pagans. He 
 prayed and exhorted, wept and sang, out in the open fields ; but 
 his hearers would none of it — they utterly refused to believe 
 in that first of all doctrines — the Trinity. In his distress, his eye 
 happened to fall upon the shamrock, so sacred to them, and, hold- 
 ing it high above his head, showed them how easy Nature found 
 it to make one perfect leaf out of three. This unexpected use 
 of Ireland's favorite symbol so astonished and convinced the 
 sceptical Celts that poor St. Patrick could scarce find water or 
 agility sufficient to baptize the thronging converts. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DECORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. — HATCHMENTS. 
 
 Now let us look at the skies above us, and see what were stolen 
 from them. Everything, yes, everything — full moons, half moons, 
 crescents, stars, all used by the conscienceless herald in order to 
 beautify the shields of his good countrymen. 
 
 The crescent not unfrequently appears, and is associated with 
 the tramps of the old-time Christian warriors. One of the ancient 
 laws of heraldry permitted the victor to assume the arms of the 
 vanquished ; and although heraldry, as a science, was unknown to the 
 Saracens, still they bore certain devices by which they could easily 
 be distinguished, and the crescent — their favorite emblem — was, 
 no doubt, often displayed by them. It therefore appears on many 
 an English shield, where stories of the Crusades were mingled 
 in the olden history of the family. Many families in a certain 
 township in England bear this device upon their shields, their 
 founder, Sir Archibald Ellis, having brought it back with him from 
 the Holy Wars. Sir Robert Sackville's descendants wear it also as 
 a memento of the Crusades. 
 
 The Percys adopted it as their badge, but for quite a different 
 reason. Their territory of Northumberland, which consists of 
 counties lying north of the river Trent, lies in the form of a half- 
 moon, and for this cause they chose their badge. 
 
 196 
 
DECORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. 197 
 
 "Now spread thy banner, Westmoreland, 
 
 Thy Dun Bull fain would we spy ; 
 And thou, the Earl of Northumberland, 
 
 Now raise the Half Moon up on high!" 
 
 Another old poet has written : — 
 
 " The minstrels of the noble House, 
 
 All clad in robes of blue — 
 With silver crescents on their arms, 
 
 Attend in order due." 
 
 Sir Walter Scott tells a story, which he very properly styles 
 an exceedingly "silly one," of the supposed origin of the name of 
 Percy. The story is that King Malcolm of Scotland, during the 
 eleventh centu^, was so unfortunate as to be killed by one of the 
 soldiers who garrisoned the Castle of Alnwick. This soldier 
 pretended to be authorized by the commandant of the castle to 
 surrender the stronghold, and, placing its keys upon the point 
 of his spear, he held them towards the king. As Malcolm bent 
 to take them, the soldier made a rapid lunge with the weapon, 
 and drove the point through the eye of the king, into his brain, 
 thus killing him instantly. The soldier gained much credit with 
 his leader by this act, and, to commemorate it, was allowed to adopt 
 the name " Pierce-eye," or Percy. 
 
 The Sun, in his splendor, was often chosen, especially by families 
 bearing the name of Bright, Day, or Clear. Richard II., during 
 his early and happiest days, used it as a badge. But in the melan- 
 choly days that closed his reign, he used the "Sun behind a 
 cloud." It appears in both ways upon the sculptured mantle 
 covering the eGigy on his tomb in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 Stars also shine out on the shields of Great Britain. On 
 
198 
 
 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 that of Lord Sutherland there are three, surrounded by the 
 tressure of Scotland, an heirloom from the days of Robert I. 
 
 If we leave the ornaments that have been taken from life and 
 from the heavens, we still find multitudes of objects adorning the 
 shield, many of which are full of significance to their owners. For 
 instance, the Water Bougets, or water-bottles, whose acquaintance 
 we made on the coat-of-arms belonging to the Bouchiers. This 
 device represents bottles made of skins, and slung across the shoul- 
 der. It is thought that during the Holy Wars, 
 when forced to cross burning wastes of desert 
 land, where water could not be found, the thirsty 
 Crusaders carried their supply in these capacious 
 vessels. The first English family bearing the 
 charge is supposed to have been the Trusbuts 
 — the heiress of which married a De Ros, and her 
 husband, according to the prevalent custom, dropped his arms in 
 assuming hers, but kept his own name. 
 
 Another ornament to the shield that recalls the old Crusader 
 days is the Palmer s Scrip. 
 
 In the chancel of a church in England, where some one by the 
 name of Palmer is buried, is this queer epitaph : — 
 
 Trusbuts. 
 
 De Ros. 
 
 " Palmers all our faders were — 
 I a Palmer lived here, 
 And travell'd still, till worn with age 
 I ended this world's pilgrimage 
 On the blest Ascension day, 
 In the cheerful month of May, 
 A thousand with four hundred seven 
 I took my journey hence to Heaven." 
 
DECORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. 199 
 
 Perhaps you know the difference between a Palmer and a Pil- 
 grim. The name palmer was given from the fact that their staves 
 were usually made of the palm tree, which they carried as they 
 returned from the Holy Wars ; but the real difference between the 
 two devotees was that a pilgrim might mean only one who perhaps 
 had visited the shrine of some saint, such as that of Thomas a 
 Becket ; while a palmer always meant that a long and toilful jour- 
 ney, in which voluntary poverty added misery to his weariness, had 
 been taken to the far distant Holy Sepulchre : — 
 
 " The faded palm-branch in his hand 
 Showed pilgrim to the Holy Land." 
 
 A pilgrim had some dwelling-place, but a palmer had none ; then, 
 the pilgrim travelled to some specified spot, but the palmer went to 
 any place, provided his journey comprised a visit to Jerusalem. The 
 pilgrim must pay his own expenses ; but the palmer must be abso- 
 lutely and wilfully poor. The pilgrim might cease to be such ; but 
 the palmer — never. 
 
 The scrip was therefore frequently placed upon the shield by 
 the descendants of the dust-begrimed, foot-sore, but highly honored 
 palmer. 
 
 Another charge is that of many families whose name ends in 
 " ton," and who have adopted as a bearing upon their shield a large 
 barrel, or " tun," with a representation of the preceding syllables 
 surmounting it — as Burton — a bird upon a tun. 
 
 The Buckle is a curious little charge, which has usually quite a 
 history when it is allowed to appear upon a shield; and the Pelhams, 
 Earls of Chichester, account for the prominent place it fills upon 
 theirs by taking us back to the early wars between France and 
 
200 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 England. King John of France, being sorely pressed by his English 
 enemies, fled to Poitiers with his son and several great nobles. 
 But the city closed its gates; and, all their suppli- 
 cations and threats being of no avail, they were 
 compelled to turn and face their foes, who were 
 soon swarming about them. The king was rec- 
 ognized, and many were the shouts of " Sir, yield, 
 or you are dead ! " There could be but little re- 
 sistance made, and the king yielded; but the 
 knight to whom he did so found it impossible to keep his prey, and 
 the king was taken and retaken so many times that finally not less 
 than ten knights and esquires challenged the honor of being the one 
 to whom his capture was due. The most conspicuous of these 
 claimants were Sir Roger la Warr and John de Pelham, the king 
 having surrendered his sword to them. As a reward, John de Pel- 
 ham was knighted, and the buckle of the belt to which the sword 
 was attached was placed upon the shield. The buckle also appears 
 upon their badge, and can be seen in all ecclesiastical buildings 
 founded or aided by them, and upon various architectural ornamen- 
 tations of their manors at Laughton and elsewhere ; on their old 
 seals ; even on the sign of an inn in the neighborhood of their estate 
 at Bishopstone ; and often on the cast-iron chimney-backs in the 
 farm-houses of the estate ; on the mile-stones, and as the mark 
 stamped upon the sheep. Indeed, the whole of that portion of 
 eastern Sussex where they make their home seems to almost grow 
 and harvest the Pelham buckle. This recalls the story told of the 
 vain old Earl of Bute, who, it was said, had even the leaden water- 
 pipes of his castle ornamented with large coronets. 
 
DECORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. 201 
 
 The Pelham Buckle, that I mentioned as being the sign of a cer- 
 tain inn, or tavern, in the neighborhood of the estates of that 
 family, has suggested to some one well versed in heraldic lore to 
 explain how it happens that so many of the little English village 
 hostleries are known by such singular names, as the Golden Lion, 
 or the Red, White, or Black Lion; the Rose and Crown, Cross 
 Keys, Three Elms, Walnut Tree, Three Cats, etc. He tells us that 
 in early days the town residences of the nobility and the great prel- 
 ates were called inns, and on their fronts the family arms were dis- 
 played. After a while these large " inns " were given up to the 
 uses of regular hotels. The coats-of-arms ornamenting the mansions 
 were retained, but called signs ; and sometimes the inns were ordi- 
 nary houses kept by old servants of certain noble families; often 
 they were small taverns built in the neighborhood of or upon the 
 estates of certain well known families, and the devices of their 
 escutcheons were used. The shields themselves, and the tinctures, 
 or colors, were slowly dropped, until only the name remained, and 
 often when three pelicans were perhaps the original device, the 
 sign dropped all but one. 
 
 The Crown and the Bush owes its appearance upon a tavern sign- 
 board to a singular circumstance that occurred during the dissen- 
 sions between Richard III. and Henry VII. of England. Sir Regi- 
 nald Bray was a warm friend of the mother of Henry VII., and, by 
 his wise and adroit management, contrived to make the Red and the 
 White Roses, exhausted by their long and thorny wars, to grow 
 peaceably upon the same bush. This he did by marrying the Prin- 
 cess Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV., to Henry. Henry and 
 Richard met on Bosworth Field to decide the question as to who 
 
202 DAME HERALDKY. 
 
 should sit on England's throne. Sunday evening, just before the 
 battle was to take place, King Richard, mounted on a light gray 
 horse and dressed in regal attire, with the crown upon his head, 
 rode, in great pomp, through the town of Leicester ; and the next 
 morning, still wearing the crown, he appeared upon the field of 
 battle, and addressed his army from the crest of what has ever since 
 been called Crown Hill. Whether he took it off during his 
 harangue to the soldiers, or whether, during the battle, he became 
 oppressed with the heat, and so laid it aside, is not known, but Sir 
 Reginald found the crown on a thorn-bush, and he gave it into the 
 custody of Lord Stanley. This nobleman, at the close of the en- 
 gagement, placed it, amidst loud acclamations of the triumphant 
 army, upon the head of the victorious Henry, who, from this time 
 until his death, reigned as Henry VII. of England. Sir Reginald 
 Bray, in memory of this event, adopted the thorn-bush bearing a 
 crown as an ensign of honor, and it can still be seen in the painted 
 windows of his great manor-house at Stene, in Northampton, 
 shire. It also appears in the windows of Henry VII.'s Chapel 
 at Westminster, the taste of Sir Reginald being the inspira- 
 tion that produced this glorious specimen of Gothic architecture. 
 He also caused the stately chapel of St. George, at Windsor, to 
 be built. 
 
 One of the great Marshals of France, Sieur D'Aubigney, one of 
 the greatest military officers of the French king, was a relation of 
 James IV. of Scotland, and took great pride in displaying, upon his 
 shield of silver, the Red Lion of Scotland. The silver field, or 
 background, he powdered with buckles, to show that it was his 
 valorous self who alone was able to unite Scotland and France 
 
DECORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. 
 
 203 
 
 Warren. 
 
 against the hated English. For the same reason he chose as his 
 motto, Distantia jungit — " It unites the distant." 
 
 A Checker-hoard Pattern was sometimes used on the shield, as 
 on that of the Earl of Warren and Surrey. It is said that the early 
 ancestors of the Warrens crossed the Channel 
 with William the Conqueror, and, for some re- 
 markably good reason no doubt, received his 
 royal permission to make and sell malt liquors. 
 To enable their agents to collect the considera- 
 tion money easily, the door-posts were painted in 
 checkers. Their descendant, the Earl of Ar- 
 undel is said to have exercised the use of this prerogative. 
 
 Another charge is that of the ffarp, which we see on that quarter 
 of Great Britain's shield which is given to Ireland. 
 
 Hibernia was the patron goddess of Scotland, and her emblem 
 was a harp. So the Irish monarchs were called "Bards," and 
 
 carried the representation of a harp 
 upon their standards. One of these 
 standards, belonging to an old Irish 
 king who was slain by the Danes, was 
 carefully kept in Dublin until almost the 
 beginning of this century. Some devout 
 and loving Irish souls firmly believe that 
 the original of this harp was one of 
 those described in the Apocalypse. 
 
 The Horn is not an unfamiliar object, 
 especially upon the arms of such as bear the names of Forester, 
 Forster, and Foster, as it is fancied that they derive their names 
 
 Harj> of Ireland. 
 
204 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 from the office of forester, which possibly they may have held in 
 the days when Merrie England was a tangle of forest growth, and 
 such an office was considered highly honorable. 
 
 The county of Mid-Lothian, that returns England's boldest and 
 truest statesman to Parliament, has within its boundaries a certain 
 tract of land, known as Pennycuik, and its owner, by some clause 
 in the title, is obliged to appear once a year in the forest of Drum- 
 sluch, near Edinburgh, and there give a blast of a horn at the king's 
 hunting. Because of this, the family, whose name is Clerk, bears 
 for its crest a forester, sounding a hunting-horn, and uses as a motto 
 the words, "Free for a blast." 
 
 Many of the crests and charges that we find on English shields, 
 such as a -broad arrow, a red rose, a flying falcon, etc., have probably 
 been placed there for similar reasons by the monarchs from whom 
 the owners received their large estates. In making these gifts the 
 monarch wished the favored chiefs not to forget the allegiance due 
 to the throne, and therefore made the retaining of them conditional. 
 Sometimes, small payments of money were required ; at other times, 
 the tax was only nominal, — an annual ceremony, — such as this 
 blowing of a horn, or the yearly presentation of a rose, a falcon, or 
 an arrow. 
 
 The Dukes of Marlborough and Wellington hold theirs in this 
 way. Should any of you be so fortunate as to find yourselves some 
 day at Windsor Castle, you will notice in the guard-room two little 
 objects of interest. They are small French flags that droop over 
 the marble busts of Marlborough and Wellington. One of them is 
 the white Bourbon flag, sprinkled with fleur-de-lys; and the other is 
 ■a tricolor. These two little flags must annually be presented by the 
 
DECORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. 205 
 
 noble dukes, representatives of their illustrious ancestors, upon the 
 anniversaries of the battles of Blenheim and Waterloo, as it is by 
 these little acts that they regularly confirm their titles to their large 
 estates in Blenheim and Strathfieldsaye. 
 
 Veiy highly are these little banners prized by the English sov- 
 ereigns, and when King William IV. lay dying at Windsor, he 
 roused himself from a heavy stupor into which he had fallen, and, 
 upon asking what day it was, was told it was the 18th of June. 
 " The battle of Waterloo ! " he exclaimed, and his mind struggled 
 to clear itself from the films of death. Suddenly his eye brightened; 
 he remembered the little flag that the Duke of Wellington regularly 
 brought to him upon this day, and he asked to look at it. When 
 it was brought, he eagerly stretched out his trembling hand and 
 touched the golden eagle that surmounted the stick. " Ah ! " he 
 whispered, as he sank back upon his pillow, " now I feel better." 
 
 These gold eagles were introduced into the French army as orna- 
 ments to the regimental standards by Napoleon I., and, being 
 wrought of pure gold, costing each about two thousand dollars, 
 with long streamers of richly embroidered ribbon attached to them, 
 the}' were greatly coveted by the opposing army. During the 
 Franco-Prussian war of 1870, the soldiers made desperate efforts to 
 get them, so that during the many disastrous encounters between 
 the French and Germans, no less than two hundred were captured. 
 This costly fashion vanished with the Napoleons. 
 
 We will now leave the shield, although many interesting devices 
 are still crying to be heard. But I fear you have heard so 
 many stories about those that are most frequently seen, that you 
 are wearied of them ; so we will content ourselves with taking a look 
 
 
206 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 at the little badge, nowadays so seldom heard of, and after that 
 you can shut up this book of heraldic tales as soon as you wish. 
 
 So, now, the Badge. It is often confounded with the crest ; but 
 as the badge is always borne by itself, and the crest must rest upon 
 its wreath or crown, the mistake can easily be avoided. Badges 
 are not now as commonly seen as in years gone by. During the 
 time of Queen Elizabeth they began to fall into disuse. They were 
 then worn by the retainers of such knights as possessed them, and 
 were often extremely ornamental. At the time of the coronation of 
 Richard III., no less than thirteen thousand representations of his 
 White Boar were made and worn at that ceremony. The first 
 badge worn in England was the Escarbuncle, or great central clamp 
 of the shield, and was adopted by Henry II., on account of his con- 
 nection with the House of Anjou. But the badge that claims to be 
 the best known among the English-speaking races is that of Edward 
 the Black Prince, now used by the Prince of Wales, — the famous 
 Ostrich Feather badge, — plucked by him from the blind old King 
 John of Bohemia. We are willing to believe that, though it was his 
 hand that plucked it from the fallen royal head and placed it on his 
 own bright helmet, it was not through any gash made by his good 
 sword that the soul of the poor blind monarch slipped from its dark- 
 ened cage into the land of spirits. 
 
 When this old King of Bohemia heard, during the battle of 
 Crecy, that the French ranks were breaking before the English 
 troops, led by the Black Prince of England, who was carrying 
 everything before him, and, worst of all, that his noble son had been 
 severely wounded, he sprang from his seat, buckled his armor on, 
 and bade his knights lead him to the hottest part of the battle, 
 
DECORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. 207 
 
 where he might most surely meet the terrible young English leader. 
 Four of his knights did so, placing him in their centre, and inter- 
 lacing the bridles of their horses. As soon as the old king was told 
 that his enemy was before him, with savage valor he strove, by his 
 random slashes, to avenge the defeat of his son. It could not be, 
 and he was cut down ; but not, they tell us, by the noble-hearted 
 English prince. Messengers brought him the news of the fall of 
 the old Bohemian hero, and, pressing his way toward the spot, he 
 dismountod, took the badge from the dead king, and, placing it 
 upon himself, pronounced aloud its accompanying motto, " Ich dien." 
 
 Much doubt attaches to the assertion that the badge owes its in- 
 troduction into England at that time. Many affirm that these self- 
 same feathers can be found in a family badge of Edward III., as in 
 an old manuscript the different forms in which the ostrich feather 
 was borne by the royal family are described : — 
 
 " The ostrich feather silver and pen gold is the king's. 
 
 " The ostrich feather pen and all silver is the prince's. 
 
 " The ostrich feather gold and pen ermine is the Duke of Lancas- 
 ter's. 
 
 " The ostrich feather silver and pen gobony is the Duke of Som- 
 erset's." 
 
 Another famous badge is that of the Earl of Warwick, the 
 " Bear and Ragged Staff." The story hath it that this ancient line 
 sprang from one of the Knights of King Arthur's Round Table, 
 whose name was Arthgal. Now Arth in the British language signi- 
 fies " Bear," and this badge of a standing bear was adopted as a 
 play upon the name. In later years an earl of the same family 
 appeared to add lustre to the family arms, named Mowidus. He 
 
208 DAME HERALDRY. 
 
 was a man akin to Hercules, for did he not uproot a tree? — 
 not too big a one! — and, hastily ridding it of all its boughs, 
 did he not therewith spill the brains of a mighty giant upon 
 the ground? Remembering this remarkable exploit, his descend- 
 ants bore as their cognizance a silver staff, ragged like the hacked 
 limbs of a tree. This, united with the bear, forms the well 
 known badge. 
 
 The present family are troubled over an evil surmise that has in 
 some way reached their ears, and rankles in their noble minds, that 
 their bear, being muzzled, is a witness to the fact that some 
 unworthy ancestor was guilty of a misdemeanor, and for this act 
 was compelled to muzzle the growling beast. Who the miscreant 
 was, or what he did, is only matter of conjecture ; but we are 
 assured by painstaking heraldists, who, with spectacles on nose, and 
 quill behind ear, have explored all possible nooks and corners where 
 information might be found, that such injurious rumors are anath- 
 ema, maranatha — only a slanderous device of some envious, badge- 
 less monster — probably an American ! 
 
 In Scotland certain plants are still retained as badges of indi- 
 vidual houses : — 
 
 The Buccleuchs have Heath. Campbells — Myrtle. 
 
 MacPhersons — Varigold Box. Camerons — Oak. 
 
 Stewarts — Thistle. Drummonds — Holly. 
 
 Murrays — Juniper. Gordons — Ivy. 
 
 MacKays — Bulrush. Grants — Cranberry Heath. 
 
 McGregors — Pine. Grahams — Laurel. 
 
 As an addition to some such badge, the House of Murray is alone 
 permitted to wear an eagle feather. This does not prevent the 
 
DECORATIONS TAKEN FROM OTHER SOURCES. 209 
 
 chiefs of all other clans wearing the feather in their caps, but for- 
 bids their wearing it as a badge. 
 
 With this last ornament belonging to the Elect Few, we will 
 consider our acquaintance with heraldic decoration as completed. 
 But before we bid Dame Heraldry good-by, we will photograph her 
 as she presides at a ceremony — the last in which her knightly devo- 
 tees take part. After this last effort on her part, she mutters the 
 old rhyme, " Their swords are rust, their bones are dust, their souls 
 are with the Lord, I trust," and hies herself to the new chevalier, 
 just putting on his father's worn-out slippers. Do you see how 
 curiously decorated the front of this house is ? Some one lies dead 
 within its walls; and this curious heraldic custom still prevails in 
 England, although that, too, is gradually shrinking into the past. 
 When a noble, or any prominent member of his family, dies, an 
 immense black frame, shaped like a lozenge, with the family coat-of- 
 arms occupying its centre, is placed against the wall, above the 
 entrance to the house. If it is a bachelor who has died, then the 
 shield appears upon the black background ; if a single woman, then 
 a lozenge is used. Married men and women, widowers and widows, 
 are all designated by some peculiar mark or omission ; so that any 
 passer-by who is familiar with the laws of heraldry knows in an 
 instant all but the name of the deceased. This is called a " hatch- 
 ment," and remains on the outside of the house from six to twelve 
 months. 
 
 And now, dear children, our story is ended. Dame Heraldry, 
 hearing us narrate the tales connected with the badge, concluded 
 that the close of the book was near ; so she donned the best of her 
 decaying grandeur, framed her lips into the most courtly of farewell 
 
210 DAME HEKALD11Y. 
 
 simpers, and was ready, with a sweeping fifteenth-century courtesy, 
 to vanish from the scene. But our introduction of these last fune- 
 real touches to the picture of her days of glory compelled her to 
 rustle a hasty exit. The venerated hatchment is the last fading 
 remnant of her once imposing funeral ceremonies, where all the 
 pomp and parade of heraldic display were added to the natural 
 impressiveness of the occasion, meriting marked consideration by 
 her heraldic Majesty. She therefore reappears, clad in rusty black, 
 with bent head and mumbling lips. Interlacing the attenuated 
 fingers of her palsied hands into the semblance of pious devotion, 
 she poses before us as chief mourner. But the restless, roving 
 glances of her glittering eyes, as they ever and anon peer out from 
 the deep hollows of her haggard face, prove to us the emptiness of 
 her pretensions; and in this position, suggestive of another like 
 solemn occasion, possibly in the near future, where no hatchment 
 will be displayed, and where she will be not only chief, but 
 only mourner, and the very corpse itself, we will take our final 
 leave of her. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abel, 72 
 
 Abercom, Duke of, 77 
 
 Aberdeen, Lord, 110 
 
 Abergavenny, Marquis of, 184 
 
 Achaius, King, 154 
 
 Achievement, 100 
 
 Adam, 72 
 
 Adams, John, 3, 4, 10 
 
 Addington, 68 
 
 Adeliza, 30 
 
 Agincourt, 14, 98, 118, 160 
 
 Albini, William de, 30 
 
 Alcantara, Knights of, 74 
 
 Alerion, 162 
 
 Alexander the Great, 73 
 
 Alexander IV., Pope, 174 
 
 Alexandria, Bishop of, 90 
 
 Alfonso VI. of Spain, 151 
 
 Alnwick Castle, 197 
 
 Amiens, 60, 102 
 
 Andrew, Saint, 96, 151 
 
 Angouleme, Due d', 174 
 
 Anhalt, Dukedom of, 188 
 
 Anjou, 103, 159, 206 
 
 Anne of Cleves, 160 
 
 Anne, Queen, 131 
 
 Anthony, Saint, 150 
 
 Antioch, 185 
 
 Antrim, Earls of, 149 
 
 Ape, 126 
 
 Apollo, 95 
 
 Argyle, Duke of, 53, 151 
 
 Armor, 83 
 
 Arms, Classes of, 63 
 
 Alliance, 71 
 
 Allusive, 63 
 
 Assumptive, 63 
 
 Attributive, 72 
 
 Community, 65 
 
 Concession, 70 
 
 Dominion, 64 
 
 Office, 73 
 
 Arms, Paternal, 63 
 Arthgal, 207 
 
 Arthur, King, 78, 133, 207 
 Arundel of W ardour, 22 
 Arundel, 30, 203 
 Athol, Duke of, 147 
 Attributive Arms, 72 
 Aubigney, Sieur d', 202 
 Audley, Lord, 70 
 Augmentations, 20 
 
 B. 
 
 Badge, 106, 206 
 
 Baltimore, Lord, 12 
 
 Bard, 203 
 
 Baron, 121, 122 
 
 Baronet, Order of, 180 
 
 Bar Sinister, 143 
 
 Bastille St. Antoine, 102 
 
 Batcheler, Rev. Stephen, 121 
 
 Bath, Knights of the, 35, 77, 78 
 
 Bayard, Chevalier, 41, 40, 138 
 
 Bayeux Tapestry, 88 
 
 Bear and Ragged Staff, 151, 185, 207 
 
 Beauchamp, 166 
 
 Beatrice, 166 
 
 Beaumont, Sir John, 122 
 
 Beaupreau, Prince de, 50 
 
 Beavers, 127 
 
 Bend, 141 
 
 Bend lets, 143 
 
 Bere, De la, 112 
 
 Berwick, 139 
 
 Bezant, 156 
 
 Billets, 155 
 
 Bishoprics, 68 
 
 Bishopstone, 200 
 
 Black Prince, 71, 86, 112, 145, 20(5 
 
 Blazon, 52 
 
 Blenheim, 205 
 
 Boar, White, 206 
 
 Bohun, 166 
 
 Bombie, Barony of, 116 
 
 211 
 
212 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bordure, 155 
 
 Boscobel House, 192 
 
 Bosworth Field, 29, 201 
 
 Botreux, 187 
 
 Bouchier, 19, 198 
 
 Bouillon, Godfrey de, 16 
 
 Bouvines, Battle of, 162 
 
 Bray, Sir Reginald, 201 
 
 Bretagne, Dukes of, 136 
 
 Bright, 197 
 
 Brittany, 133 
 
 Bruce, Robert, 32, 115, 119, 176 
 
 Brunswick Hanover, 88 
 
 Brutus, 133 
 
 Buccleuch, Lords of, 143, 208 
 
 Buckle, 199, 201 
 
 Bull's Head, 172, 173 
 
 Bulrush, 208 
 
 Bulstrode, 172 
 
 Burton, 67, 199 
 
 Burnham, 68 
 
 Bute, Marquis of, 87, 200 
 
 Butler, 73, 128 
 
 Byron, 143 
 
 Cadency, 138 
 
 Cain, 72 
 
 Calais, 151 
 
 Calatrava, Knights of, 74 
 
 Cameron, 208 
 
 Campbell, 53, 151, 208 
 
 Campbell, Thomas, 11 
 
 Canterbury, 86, 89 
 
 Canton, 151 
 
 Cape Breton, 120 
 
 Cappadocia, 90 
 
 Cardiff, 144 
 
 Carignon, 46 
 
 Carleton, General, 127 
 
 Carlos, 192 
 
 Castile, Eleanor of, 146 
 
 Castle Rock, 44 
 
 Chalus, 110 
 
 Chandos, Sir John, 145 
 
 Chapel, 102 
 
 Chaplain, 102 
 
 Charles I. of England, 62, 77, 125, 143 
 
 Charles II. of England, 33, 192, 194 
 
 Charles VI., 186 
 
 Charles VII. of France, 76 
 
 Charles, Duke of Orleans, 118 
 
 Charles, Duke of Savoy, 47 
 
 Charlemagne, 17, 89, 154 
 
 Chatham, Lord, 156 
 
 Chatillon, 17 
 
 Cheapside, 42 
 
 Cheltenham, 112 
 
 Checker-board, 203 
 
 Cheshire, 113 
 
 Chester, 94, 142 
 
 Chevron, 144 
 
 Chichester, 68, 199 
 
 Chief, 138 
 
 Cisneres, Rodrigo di, 152 
 
 Clare College, 144 
 
 Clerk, 204 
 
 Clear, 197 
 
 Cleves, Anne of, 166 
 
 Clover-leaf, 195 
 
 Clovis, 186 
 
 Clyde, 116 
 
 Coat-of-Arms, 83 
 
 Colonna, Stefano, 64 
 
 College of Heralds, 14, 56, 62 
 
 Colors, 132, 137 
 
 Colt, 64 
 
 Columbus, 69 
 
 Comyn, The Red, 115 
 
 Cornette Blancha, 104 
 
 Cornwall, Duke of, 123 
 
 Coronets, 121 
 
 Coucis, 17 
 
 Courcey, Sir John, 163 
 
 Court dresses, 86 
 
 Crampton, 13 
 
 Cranberry Heath, 208 
 
 Crawford, Captain, 117 
 
 Crecy, 112, 206 
 
 Crescent, 196 
 
 Crest, 106 
 
 Cris de Guerre, 128 
 
 Cross, 66, 147 
 
 Crom, 128 
 
 Crown, 106 
 
 Crown and the Bush, 201 
 
 Crusader Kings, 149 
 
 Crusades, 18, 87, 95, 147, 156, 196 
 
 Curran, Robert, 131 
 
 Cuthbert, Saint, 99 
 
 D. 
 
 Dalziel, 182 
 Dartmouth, Earl of, 123 
 
INDEX. 
 
 213 
 
 Dauphin, 174 
 
 Davenport, 114 
 
 David, 73 
 
 David II. of Scotland, 25 
 
 Day, 197 
 
 Day of Pentecost, 103 
 
 Dead Sea, 156 
 
 Degradation of knights, 36 
 
 Delves, 71 
 
 Denis, Saint, 101, 104 
 
 Derby, Earl, 108, 171, 192 
 
 De Ros, 198 
 
 Desmond, 128 
 
 Devonshire, Duke of, 171 
 
 Diana of Poitiers, 50 
 
 Dimidiation, 146 
 
 Doddridge, Doctor, 130 
 
 Dolphin, 173 
 
 Don Pedro, King of Castile, 145 
 
 Dorchester, Lord, 128 
 
 Douglas, Sir James, 176 
 
 Drake, 7 
 
 Drake, Sir Francis, 131, 141 
 
 Drayton, 160 
 
 Drummond, 208 
 
 Drury, 150 
 
 Dudley, 112, 123 
 
 Duke, 119, 122 
 
 Dumbarton Castle, 118 
 
 Dumfries, 115 
 
 Dunbar, 129 
 
 Dundee, 138 
 
 Dunham, 68 
 
 Dunotter Castle, 140 
 
 Durham Cathedral, 99 
 
 E. 
 
 Eagle, 21, 162, 163, 205 
 
 Eagle feathers, 208 
 
 Earl, 121, 122 
 
 Earl Marshal, 59 
 
 Edward the Confessor, 96, 148 
 
 Edward I., 85, 175 
 
 Edward III., 60, 62, 77, 96, 108, 123, 207 
 
 Edward IV., 184, 201 
 
 Eleanor of Castile, 146 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, 42, 62, 65, 116, 206 
 
 Ellis, Sir Archibald, 196 
 
 England, Coat-of-Arms, 64 
 
 Ermine, 133, 137 
 
 Errol, Dukes of, 124 
 
 Escarbunch, 20G 
 
 Escutcheon, 156 
 
 Esprit, Knights of Saint, 74 
 
 Essex, 18, 42, 66 
 
 Eton Hall, 194 
 
 Eve, Arms of, 72 
 
 Excalibur, 135 
 
 F. 
 
 Farnham, 68 
 
 Farthing, 148 
 
 Ferdinand, King, 75 
 
 Fesse, 141 
 
 Field of the Cloth-of-Gold, 44 
 
 Fitz Gerald, 128 
 
 Flags, 7, 88, 148 
 
 Flanches, 154 
 
 Fleur-de-lys, 186, 187 
 
 Flints, 76 
 
 Flodden Field, 29, 100 
 
 Flolo, 133 
 
 Flowers, 183 
 
 Forester, 64, 203 
 
 Foster, Forster, 203 
 
 Fountains, 158 
 
 Francis I. of France, 44 
 
 France, Arms of, 119, 186, 187 
 
 Frankfurt Cathedral, 105 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, 3, 4 
 
 Friedrich Wilhelm II., 105 
 
 Fret, 152 
 
 Froissart, 144 
 
 Frusasco, Lord de, 47 
 
 Furlthurst, 71 
 
 Furs, 132 
 
 Fusils, 155 
 
 G. 
 
 Galloway, 116 
 
 Garter King-at-Arms, 60, 74 
 
 Gaunt, John of, 86, 150 
 
 Geoffrey of Anjou, 187 
 
 George, Saint, 66, 75, 77, 96 
 
 George III. of England, 10 
 
 Gideon, 76, 157 
 
 Gisons, 131 
 
 Glasgow, 65, 117 
 
 Gloucester, Earl of, 85 
 
 Golden Fleece, Knights of the, 74, 76 
 
 Gordon, 68, 112, 208 
 
 Gornay, Sir Ancel, 18 
 
 Goutte, 159 
 
 Gowrie, District of, 125 
 
214 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Graham, 208 
 Graham of Montrose, 147 
 Grant, 208 
 Gregory, Pope, 149 
 Groombridge, 119 
 Grosvenor, 141, 155 
 Guisne, 44 
 Guy VIII., 174 
 Gwendoline, 72 
 Gyrons, 151 
 
 H. 
 
 Hamilton, 68, 119 
 
 Harp, 203 
 
 Harrington, 152 
 
 Hastings, Dean of, 166 
 
 Hatchment, 209 
 
 Hawkeston, 71 
 
 Hawkins, Sir John, 137 
 
 Hay, 124 » 
 
 Hazelriggs, 194 
 
 Heart of Bruce, 176 
 
 Heavenly bodies, 196 
 
 Helios, 167 
 
 Helmets, 106, 121 
 
 Hengist, 88 
 
 Henry I., 30 
 
 Henry II., 164, 188,206 
 
 Henry III., 73 
 
 Henry V., 50, 160 
 
 Henry VI., 78, 122, 184 
 
 Henry VII., 27, 128, 183, 201 
 
 Henry VIII., 27, 44, 70, 154 
 
 Henry II. of France, 50 
 
 Henry IV. of France, 104 
 
 Heraldry, 52 
 
 Heralds, 60, 162 
 
 Hertford, County of, 98 
 
 Hibernia, 203 
 
 Holly, 208 
 
 Horns, 203 
 
 Horsa, 88 
 
 Horse, 89 
 
 Hotot, Agnes, 113 
 
 Howard, Henry Fitzallen, 25 
 
 Howard, Sir John, 29 
 
 Howard, Dukes of Norfolk, 25 
 
 Humbert, King of Italy, 77 
 
 Hume, David, 158 
 
 Inescutcheon, 155 
 
 Inn signs, 201 
 Isabella of Spain, 75 
 Isham, 131 
 Ivry, 104 
 Ivy, 208 
 
 Jago, Knights of Saint, 74, 75 
 
 James II. of Scotland, 115 
 
 James IV. of Scotland, 27, 202 
 
 James I. of England, 116, 150, 154, 175, 180 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, 3, 4, 5, 6 
 
 John, King of Bohemia, 206 
 
 John, King of England, 164 
 
 John of France, 101, 200 
 
 John of Gaunt, 86, 150 
 
 John, Knights of Saint, 148 
 
 Joust, 37 
 
 Juniper, 208 
 
 K. 
 
 Keith, 138 
 
 Kenneth of Scotland, 124, 182 
 
 Kent, County of, (56, 89, 119 
 
 Kentigern, Bishop of Glasgow, 65 
 
 Kildare, Earls of, 126 
 
 Kincardineshire, 140 
 
 Kings-at-Arms, (50 
 
 Kingsale, Lord, 165 
 
 Kinneff, Kirk of, 140 
 
 Kintore, Earl of, 138 
 
 Kirkpatrick, 115 
 
 Knight, Origin of word, 123 
 
 Knighthood, Orders of, 74 
 
 Knights Templars, 74, 148 
 
 Knights of Windsor. 78 
 
 Lacie, Hugh de, 164 
 Lafayette, 102 
 Lancaster, 86, 183 
 Lane, Jane, 33 
 Latham, Lord, 109 
 Laurel, 208 
 Leaves, 194 
 Leinster, Earls of, 128 
 Lennox, Earl of, 116 
 Leopard, 161 
 Leslie, 130 
 Leveson, 194 
 Ligonia, 122 
 Lilies, 186 
 
INDEX. 
 
 215 
 
 Limerick, 128 
 
 Limoges, Viscount of, 110 
 
 Lines, 137 
 
 Lion, 26, 29, 31, 154, 101 
 
 Liverpool, 131, 141 
 
 Lockhard, Sir Simon, 179 
 
 London, 66, 08, 83 
 
 Longueval, 17 
 
 Lorraine, 16, 162 
 
 Lothian, 139 
 
 Louis, Emperor of Bavaria, 64 
 
 Louisbourg, 120 
 
 Lozenges, 154 
 
 Lucy, 174 
 
 Lumsden, 131 
 
 Lyon, Earl of Strathmore, 112 
 
 Lyon, King-at-Arms, 60 
 
 M. 
 MacCalam More, 53 
 MacCarthy, 126 
 MacDonald, 149 
 MacDonnell, 149 
 MacGregor, 208 
 MacKay, 208 
 Mackworth, 71 
 MacPherson, 208 
 Macro, Dr. Cox, 130 
 Magicians, The, 72 
 Malcolm, Kings of Scotland, 138, 182, 189, 
 
 197 
 Man, Body of, 176 
 Mantling, 106, 122 
 Marcel, Etienne, 101 
 Margaret, Queen, 130 
 Marlborough, Duke of, 205 
 Marmion, Lord, 54 
 Marquis, 121, 122 
 Martlett, 165 
 Maryland, Seal of, 12 
 Mary Queen of Scots, 116 
 Martin, Saint, 101, 102 
 Mascle, 154 
 
 Massachusetts, Seal of, 12 
 Matilda, 88 
 Maximilian, 84 
 McClellan, 115 
 Medici, Cosmo de, 21 
 Melanchthon, Philip, 84 
 Melchior, 72 
 Merveil, Arnaud de, 82 
 Metals, 132, 137 
 
 Michael, Saint, 95 
 
 Michael, Knights of Saint, 74, 76 
 
 Michel, Sir Francis, 36 
 
 Molyneux, 148 
 
 Montagu, 108, 155 
 
 Montdragon, 49 
 
 Montgomery, 50 
 
 Montmorenci, 129. 162 
 
 Montrose, Duke of, 63, 147 
 
 Mortimer's Cross, Battle of, 184 
 
 Mortimer, 156 
 
 Motto, 106, 128 
 
 Moulton, Sir Thomas de, 44 
 
 Mowidus, 207 
 
 Murray, 208 
 
 Myrtle, 208 
 
 Mythical animals, 175 
 
 N. 
 Napier, Lord, 22 
 Napoleon , 105, 205 
 Navarre, 104 
 Neville, 151, 166 
 New England, 120 
 Newton, 18 
 Nicolas, Sir Harris, 98 
 Nicomedia, 91 
 
 Norfolk, Dukes of, 25, 30, 56, 59 
 Normandy, 131 
 
 Northumberland, Duke of, 56, 155, 196 
 Norton, 68 
 Notre Dame, 136 
 
 O. 
 
 Oak, 192, 208 
 
 Office, Arms of, 73 
 
 Odin, 88 
 
 Ogresses, 158 
 
 O'Neil, 180 
 
 Onslow, 130 
 
 Orders of knighthood, 74 
 
 Ordinaries, 137 
 
 Orford, Earl of, 19 
 
 Orirlamme, 103 
 
 Ormond, Duke of, 37, 73 
 
 Ossona, Duke of, 151 
 
 Ostrich feathers, 206 
 
 Otho, 162 
 
 Oxford, Earls of, 184 
 
 P. 
 
 Pale, 141 
 
216 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Palmer, 198 
 
 Palmer's scrip, 198 
 
 Paris, 134 
 
 Parmentier, 190 
 
 Patrick, Saint, 97, 149, 151, 195 
 
 Pear-tree, 65 
 
 Pegasus, 100 
 
 Pelham, John de, 200 
 
 Pelican, 166 
 
 Pellets, 158 
 
 Penderell, 193 
 
 Pennycuik, 204 
 
 Pepperell, Sir William, 120 
 
 Percy, 56, 155, 196, 197 
 
 Perth, 124 
 
 Philip the Good, 76 
 
 Philpot, 67 
 
 Pierrepont, 130 
 
 Pike, 174 
 
 Pile, 144 
 
 Pilgrim, 199 
 
 Pine, 208 
 
 Pine Tree Shilling, 193 
 
 Piscataway, 120 
 
 Pitt, 156 
 
 Plantagenet, 188 
 
 Planta genista, 187 
 
 Poictiers, 70, 200 
 
 Pollok, Sir Hugh, 116 
 
 Ponsonby, Lord, 123 
 
 Porcupine, Knights of the, 74 
 
 Portsmouth, Earls of, 159 
 
 Portugal, Coat-of-Arms, 156 
 
 Potato, 190 
 
 Prester John, 68 
 
 Primrose, 190 
 
 Pursuivant, 55, 59 
 
 Quartering, 145 
 Quebec, 128 
 
 Q. 
 
 R. 
 
 Ragged Staff, 151 
 
 Regalia of Scotland, 140 
 
 Rheim's, 186 
 
 Rhys, Prince of Wales, 72 
 
 Richard Coeur de Lion, 18, 43, 95, 131 
 
 Richard II., 66, 123, 142, 197 
 
 Richard III., 201, 206 
 
 Ringdale, 113 
 
 Rivoli, Rue de, 101 
 
 Robert I. of Scotland, 154, 198 
 
 Robert II. of Scotland, 112 
 
 Rochefoucauld, Count de la, 103 
 
 Rodney, 147 
 
 Romer Palace, 105 
 
 Roses, 183, 184 
 
 Rose-en-soleil, 184 
 
 Roses, Wars of the, 62, 114, 183 
 
 Rothes, 130 
 
 Roundels, 156 
 
 Rouastre, Lord de, 48 
 
 Rudolph of Germany, 21 
 
 Rue, 188 
 
 Rustres, 154 
 
 Rutland, Earl of, 42 
 
 Sackville, Sir Robert, 196 
 
 Saddles, 85 
 
 Sainte Ampoule, 186 
 
 Salisbury, Earl of, 108 
 
 Salmon, 65 
 
 Saltire, 151 
 
 Samson, 73 
 
 Scott of Thirlestane, 23 
 
 Scott, Sir Walter, 54, 197 
 
 Scrip, 198 
 
 Scroll, 106 
 
 Scrope, 142, 155 
 
 Seals, 3, 11 
 
 Seize Quartiers, 147 
 
 Sefton, Earls of, 148 
 
 Sens, 50 
 
 Seton, Sir Christopher, 32 
 
 Seville, 97 
 
 Seymour, Jane, 70 
 
 Shakspeare, 174 
 
 Shamrock, 195 
 
 Shanet, 128 
 
 Shell, 174 
 
 Shields, 132 
 
 Shrewsbury, Earl of, 71 
 
 Sidney, Sir Algernon, 12 
 
 Simitier, 4 
 
 Skies, 196 
 
 Smithfleld, 42, 66 
 
 Somerset, Duke of, 70, 183, 207 
 
 Southam, 112 
 
 Spedhurst, 119 
 
 Spencer, John de, 119 
 
 Stafford, 166 
 
 Stag, 171 
 
INDEX. 
 
 217 
 
 Stanley, 108, 202 
 
 Star, Knights of the, 74, 76 
 
 Stars, 78, 185, 197 
 
 Steward, 73 
 
 Stewart, 208 
 
 Stirling, 44 
 
 Stoke Tyiie, Lord of, 125 
 
 Stourton, (!4 
 
 Stratford-on-Avon, 174 
 
 Strathmore, Earl of, 112 
 
 Stuarts, 73 
 
 Sun, 197 
 
 Supporters, 124 
 
 Surcoat, 84, 85, 86' 
 
 Surrey, Earl of, 2(i, 100, 203 
 
 Sutherland, Duke of, 154, 198 
 
 Swan, Knights of the, 74 
 
 Swan, llili 
 
 Swann, 166 
 
 Swift, Dean, 131 
 
 Talhot, Gilbert, 72 
 
 Tau, 150 
 
 Temple Garden, 184 
 
 Thistle, 188,208 
 
 Thistle, Order of the, 77, 190 
 
 Tilt, 38 
 
 Toison d'Or, 74, 76 
 
 Ton, 199 
 
 Torteaux, 158 
 
 Tournaments, 37, 42 
 
 Tower of London, 42, 83, 101 
 
 Trees, 118, 192 
 
 Treasure, 154 
 
 Tricolor, 101 
 
 Trushuts, 198 
 
 Tuileries, 101 
 
 Tyler, Wat, 66 
 
 U. 
 
 Ulster, 164, 180 
 
 Ulster King-at-Arms, 60 
 
 Unicorn, 175 
 
 Union Jack, 90, 97, 98, 150, 151 
 
 Uri, Canton of, 173 
 
 Valais, Canton of, 173 
 Van Arteveldte, Philip, 104 
 Venice, Flag of, 105 
 Vere, Aubrey de, 186 
 Vere, Robert de la, 123 
 Vesey, Count de, 17 
 Visconti, Otho, 20 
 Viscount, 121, 122 
 Visitations, 61 
 
 W. 
 
 Waller, Sir Richard, 118 
 
 Wallop, 159 
 
 Walworth, 66 
 
 Wardour, Arundel of, 22 
 
 Warwick, Earl of, 184, 185, 207 
 
 Water Bougets, 198' 
 
 Waterloo, 205 
 
 West, Benjamin, 10 
 
 West Indies, 89 
 
 Westminster Abbey, 197 
 
 Westminster Hall, 36 
 
 Westminster Palace, 42, 142 
 
 Westminster, Duke of, 141 
 
 Westphalia, 89 
 
 William the Conqueror, 88, 122, 162 172 175 
 
 203 
 William IV. of England, 205 
 Windsor Castle, 37, 78, 134, 204 
 Wittekind, 89 
 Wodehouse, John, 160 
 Wolsey, Cardinal, 44 
 Worcester, Battle of, 192 
 Worcester, 65, 158 
 Wreath, 108 
 
 York, 184 
 Yves, 134 
 


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