UNIVERSITY OF CALIFOHWA LOS ANGELES UmvERsm FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC CREATURES IN ART FICTITIOUS 9f SYMBOLIC CREATURES IN ART WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THEIR USE IN BRITISH HERALDRY BY JOHN VINYCOMB MEMBER OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY, FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRE- LAND, A VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE EX-LIBRIS SOCIETY ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON ILLUSTRATED CHAPMAN AND HALL, LIMITED 11 HENRIETTA STREET, LONDON, W.C. MCMVI Printed by BALLANTVNE fir* Co. LIMITED Tavistock Street, London PREFACE iNDER the title of this book it is proposed to describe and illustrate only those fictitious and symbolic creatures which appear in British Heraldry. The list will include all those beings of whose existence we have not the direct evidence of our senses, and those exaggera- tions and combinations of natural forms which have been adopted in the system of symbolic heraldry handed down to us from the Middle Ages. Many of the ideas of the writers of that period were undoubtedly derived from still earlier sources, namely, classic story, sacred and legendary art, and the marvellous tales of early travellers ; others were the coinage of their own fancies and their fears. As these unreal beings are constantly met with in symbolic art, of which heraldry is the chief exponent, it may be assumed that they have been adopted in each case with some obvious or latent meaning, as in 2086750 vi PREFACE the case of real animals ; they may, therefore, equally lay claim to our consideration as emblems or types, more especially as less attention has been devoted to them and the delineation of their forms by compe- tent artists. The writer has been led into considering and investigating the subject with some degree of attention, from finding the frequent need of some reliable authority; both descriptive and artistic, such as would enable any one to depict with accuracy and true heraldic spirit the forms and features of these chimerical beings. Books of reference on heraldry unfortunately give but a meagre description of their shapes, with scarcely a hint as to their history or meaning, while the illustrations are usually stiff and awkward, representing a soulless state of art. It cannot be said that artists at any period have succeeded, even in a remote degree, in embodying the highly wrought conceptions of the poets con- cerning these terrible creatures of the imagination. Milton seems to have carried poetic personification to its utmost limits. Who, for instance, could depict a being like this : " Black it stood as night, Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell ! " Out of the ambiguous and often conflicting accounts PREFACE vii of different authors and the vagaries of artists it became no easy task to arrive at a clear conception of many of the forms of these ideal monsters. The poet's pen may turn them to shapes, shadowy at the best; but the artist who follows the poet in endeavour- ing to realise and give tangible shape to these ideas finds it beyond his art to give material form and expression to his personifications with anything like photographic fidelity. Such shadowy beings prefer the dim light of allegory to the clear sunlight of reason, and shrink from closer inspection. Like all spectres they are ever most effective in the dark. In the childhood of the world, from the dawn of history, and all through the dim and credulous ages past, many such illusions have performed an important part in influencing the thought and lives of mankind. Over many lands these inherited ideas still exercise a paramount influence, but in the enlightenment of the coming time it is probable their power, like that of an evil dream, will fade entirely away with the dawn of a brighter day, and the memories of their name and influence alone remain. At present we are chiefly concerned with them as symbols, and with their mode of representation, breathing for a brief moment the breath of life into their old dead skins. These mythical creatures may be gazed upon, shorn of all viii PREFACE their terrors, in the illustrations I have been enabled to make, and if it is found that from each creature I have not " plucked out the heart of its mystery " it is probably because there is no mystery whatever about it, only what to us now appears as an ingenious fiction engendered by a credulous, imaginative and superstitious past. And so we find the old horrors and pleasing fictions, after figuring for ages as terrible or bright realities in the minds of entire peoples, reduced at length to the dead level of a figure of speech and a symbol merely. J. VINYCOMB. HOLYWOOD, COUNTY DOWN, April 1906. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION ........ i NOTES ON ANIMATED BEINGS IN HERALDIC ART . . 13 THE SYMBOLISM OF ATTITUDE OR POSITION . . 18 THE HERALDIC SPIRIT EFFECTIVE DECORATIVE QUALITY ESSENTIAL IK HERALDRY ..... 22 CELESTIAL BEINGS ........ 25 ANGELS ......... 27 MISTAKEN MODERN CONCEPTION OF ANGELS . . 32 MEDIEVAL ART TREATMENT OF ANGELS . 34 CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM IN HERALDRY ... 44 THE CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM OF SCRIPTURE . . 47 EMBLEMS OF THE FOUR EVANGELISIS .... 53 CHIMERICAL CREATURES OF THE DRAGON AND SERPENT KIND ......... 57 THE DRAGON ........ 59 THE DRAGON IN CHRISTIAN ART ..... 69 THE DRAGON IN THE ROYAL HERALDRY OF BRITAIN. 83 THE CROCODILE AS THE PROTOTYPE OF THE DRAGON 91 THE HERALDIC DRAGON ...... 92 THE HYDRA ........ 96 THE WYVERN ........ 98 THE CHIMERA ....... 102 THE LION-DRAGON . ... 103 THE GORGON ........ 103 THE COCKATRICE . . . . . .. 104 BASILISK, OR AMPHYSIAN COCKATRICE .... 106 THE MYTHICAL SERPENT 108 x CONTENTS PAGE THE SCORPION . ....... 122 OTHER CHIMERICAL CREATURES AND HERALDIC BEASTS . 125 THE UNICORN . . " , . . . . 127 MEDIEVAL CONCEPTION OF THE UNICORN . . 130 THE HORN OF THE UNICORN . . . . . 133 THE PEGASUS . . . . . . . *37 SACITTARY, CENTAUR, SAGITTARIUS, CENTAURUS, HIPPO- CENTAUR ........ 141 GRIFFIN OR GRYPHON ....... 147 THE MALE GRIFFIN 160 OTHER VARIETIES OF THE GRIFFIN . . . .161 THE OPINICUS, OR EPIMACUS . . . . .162 THE SPHYNX . . . . . . . .163 THE PHCENIX BIRD OF THE SUN 171 THE HARPY . . . . . . . . 179 THE HERALDIC PELICAN . . . . . . .182 THE MARTLET . . . . . . . , 186 THE ALERION 188 ^ THE LIVER (CORMORANT) . . . . .189 THE HERALDIC TIGRE OR TYGER . . . . .190 THE ROYAL TIGER . . . . . .193 LEOPARD, OR PANTHER, FELIS PARDUS, LYBBARDE . 194 THE PANTHER "INCENSED" . . . . .199 THE LYNX ......... 203 CAT-A-MOUNTAIN TIGER CAT OR WILD CAT . . . 205 THE SALAMANDER ........ 209 HERALDIC ANTELOPE . . . . . . .213 THE HERALDIC IBEX . . . . . . .215 BAGWYN . . . . . . . . .216 THE CAMELOPARD, CAMEL-LEOPARD . . . .216 MUSIMON, TlTYRUS . . . . . . .217 THE ENFIELD . . . . . . . .217 MANTIGER, MONTEGRE OR MANTICORA SATYRAL . .218 LAMIA OR EMIPUSA ....... 220 BAPHOMET . 221 CONTENTS xi PAGE APRES . . . ... . . ' ,221 STELLIONES . . . . . . . .221 FICTITIOUS CREATURES OF THE SEA . . . . .223 INTRODUCTORY NOTES . . . . . .225 POSEIDON, OR NEPTUNE ....... 237 MERMAN OR TRITON ....... 239 THE MERMAID OR SIREN ...... 243 THE SIRENS OF CLASSIC MYTHOLOGY .... 249 THE DOLPHIN OF LEGEND AND OF HERALDRY. . . 254 THE DAUPHIN OF FRANCE ...... 265 THE HERALDIC DOLPHIN ...... 267 THE SEA-HORSE ........ 270 SEA-LION ......... 274 SEA-DOG . . . . . . . . .275 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS CELESTIAL BEINGS : Angel holding Shield ...... 27 Egyptian Winged Deity ...... 28 Hawk-headed and winged figure, emblem of Osiris . 29 Angel with Cloud Symbol . . . . .38 Angel Supporter ....... 40 Kneeling Angel Supporter . . . . 41 Arms of the Abbey of St. Albans .... 42 Gloria in Excelsis Deo ...... 43 Cherubs' Heads ....... 44 A Seraph's Head ....... 44 Arms Azure a chevron argent between three cherubs' heads of the last ...... 45 Cherubim and Seraphim of Scripture ... 47 Angel crest of Tuite, Bart., co. Tipperary ... 48 Tetramorph ........ 52 Symbols of the Four Evangelists .... 54 The Lion of St. Mark, Venice 56 CHIMERICAL CREATURES OF THE DRAGON AND SERPENT KIND : The Dragon ........ 59 Japanese Dragon . . . . . ... 65 Japanese Imperial Device . . . . .67 The Dragon of the Apocalypse . . 71 St. Michael and the Old Dragon . . , . 72 St. Margaret. From ancient carving . . . 73 St. George and the Dragon ..... 74 xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE CHIMERICAL CREATURES continued : Dragon Standard. From the Bayeux Tapestry . . 86 A Dragon passant ....... 90 Crest, a Dragon's Head erased collared and chained . 93 Arms of the City of London ..... 94 Sinister supporter of the arms of Viscount Gough . 95 Hercules and the Lernean Hydra. From Greek vase . 96 The Hydra .."... . . . 97 A Wyvern holding a fleur-de-lis .... 98 A Wyvern, wings endorsed, tail nowed ... 99 Wyvern from the Garter plate of Sir John Gray, 1436 A.D. ....... 99 Wyvern, or Lindworm (German version) . . . 100 Wyvern, wings displayed (early example) . . . IOI Wyvern, wings depressed ...... 101 Chimera, from a Greek coin ..... 102 Cockatrice . . . . . . . 1 05 Basilisk or Aphasian Cockatrice, tail nowed . . 107 Greek Shield, from painted vase in the British Museum 114 Brazen Serpent . . . .. . . .114 Arms of Whitby Abbey 118 A Serpent, nowed, proper. Crest of Cavendish . . 121 Amphiptere, or flying Serpent . . . . .122 Scorpion . . . . . . . .123 OTHER CHIMERICAL CREATURES AND HERALDIC BEASTS : Unicorn salient . . . . . . .127 Crest, a Unicorn's Head, couped . . . .128 The Legend of the Unicorn . . . . -131 Pegasus or Pegasos . . . . . . .137 Coins of Corinth and Syracuse . . . . .138 Pegasus salient . . . , . . . 139 The Sagittary Centaur . ; . . . .142 Ipotane, from Mandeville's travels .... 144 Compound figures, gold necklace . . . 145 Centaur, Greek Sculpture . ... . . 146 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv PAGE OTHER CHIMERICAL CREATURES continued: A Griffin statant, wings endorsed . ''". .148 A Griffin passant, wings raised. (Early English) . . 149 A Griffin segreant, wings displayed. (German) . 149 Sleeping Griffin ....... 150 Griffin segreant (German version) . . . .152 Gold Flying Griffin . " 154 Colossal Griffins, Burmah . . . . .155 Carved panel, a Griffin segreant . . . .160 Male Griffin ........ 161 Opinions statant ....... 162 Egyptian Sphynx . . . . . . -163 Theban, or Greek Sphynx . . . . .164 A Sphynx passant guardant, wings endorsed . .170 The Phoenix . 171 A Harpy, wings disclosed . . . . . .179 The Harpy, Greek sculpture . . . . .180 A Harpy displayed and crowned (German version) . 181 Shield of Nuremberg . . . . . 181 A Pelican in her piety, wings displayed . . . 182 Heraldic Pelican in her piety . . . . .183 Crest, a Pelican vulning herself proper, wings endorsed 184 The natural Pelican 1 86 The Martlet . 186 Alerion displayed . . . . . . .188 Heraldic Eagle 188 An Heraldic Tigre passant ..... 190 Supporter, an Heraldic Tigre, collared and lined . 191 Tigre and Mirror . . . . . . .193 A Leopard passant . . . . . . .195 A Leopard's Face, jessant-de-lis . . . .196 Panther " Incensed " 200 The Lynx . ' 203 Cat-a-Mountain saliant, collared and lined . . . 205 Crest, a Cat-a-Mountain, sejant, collared and lined . 206 xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE OTHER CHIMERICAL CREATURES continued: The crowned Salamander of Francis I. ... 209 Salamander crest of James, Earl of Douglas . .212 Heraldic Antelope . . . . . . .214 The Heraldic Ibex . . . . . . .215 Musimon, Tityrus . . . . . . .217 Mantygre, Satyral . . . . ... .218 Manticora. From ancient Bestiaria . . . .219 Lamia. From old Bestiary ..... 220 FICTITIOUS CREATURES OF THE SEA : Poseidon. Dexter Supporter of Baron Hawke . . 237 Merman or Triton . . . ... . 240 Triton, with two tails (German) .... 240 Mermaid and Triton supporters . . . .241 Mermaid ....... 242, 243 Crest of Ellis 244 Die Ritter, of Nuremberg ..... 245 Ulysses and the Sirens ..... 249, 250 The Dolphin ....... ^254, 255 Dolphin of classic art . . . . . .259 Coin of ^Egina ....... 262 Sign of the Dolphin . . . . , . 263 Banner of the Dolphin ...... 265 Example Dolphin embowed . . . . 267 Dolphin hauriant, urinant, naiant, torqued . . 268 Sea-horse naiant . V t . . . . 270 Sea-horse erect . . . . . . ,271 Arms of the city of Belfast . . . . 273 Sea-lion erect . . . . . . . 275 Sea-dog rampant ....,,, 276 INTRODUCTION " Angels and ministers of grace defend us." " Hamlet." HE human mind has a passionate longing for knowledge even of things past comprehension. Where it cannot know, it will imagine ; what the mind conceives it will attempt to define. Are facts wanting, poetry steps in, and myth and song supply the void ; cave and forest, mountain and valley, lake and river, are theatres peopled by fancy, and "as imagination bodies forth The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing A local habitation and a name." Traditions of unreal beings inhabit the air, and will not vanish be they ever so sternly commanded; from the misty records of antiquity and the relics of past greatness as seen sculptured in stupendous ruins on the banks of the Nile and the plains of Assyria, strange shapes look with their mute stony eyes upon a world that knows them but imperfectly, and 2 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC vainly attempts to unriddle the unfathomable mystery of their being. Western nations, with their growing civilisations, conjured up monsters of benign or baneful influence, or engrafted and expanded the older ideas in a manner suited to their genius and national characteristics. The creatures of the imagination, " Gorgons and Hydras and Chimeras dire," shapes lovely and shapes terrible begot of unreason in the credulous minds of the imaginative, the timid and the superstitious, or dreamy poetic fancies of fairies and elves of whom poets sing so sweetly: " Shapes from the invisible world unearthly singing From out the middle air, from flowery nests And from the pillowy silkiness that rests Full in the speculation of the stars, " ^ KEATS. " or fairy elves, Whose midnight revels, by the forest side Or fountain, some belated peasant sees, Or dreams he sees, " MILTON, Paradise Lost^ Book i. the nameless dreads and horrors of the unknown powers of darkness, the pestiferous inhabitants of wastes and desert places where loneliness reigns su- preme, and imaginary terrors assault the traveller on every hand, assuming forms more various and more to be dreaded than aught of mortal birth, such vague and indefinable ideas, "legends fed by CREATURES IN ART 3 time and chance," like rumours in the air, in the course of time assume tangible shape, receiving defi- nite expression by the poet and artist until they become fixed in the popular mind as stern realities influencing the thoughts and habits of millions of people through successive generations. We see them in the rude fetish of the South Sea Islander, the myriad gods and monsters of heathen mythology, as well as in the superstitions of mediaeval Europe, of which last the devil with horned brow, cloven hoofs and forked tail is the most " unreal mockery " of them all. The days of Diabolism and the old witch creed are, however, passed away ; but under the dominance of these ideas during centuries, in Protestant and Catholic lands alike, hundreds of thousands of inno- cent victims of all ages and both sexes were accused of the most absurd and impossible crimes, and sub-, jected to almost inconceivable torture and death. The dying Christian about to pass through the valley of the shadow of death, in the words of the poet, expresses his faith in the nearness of the spirit world : " I see a form ye cannot see I hear a voice ye cannot hear." To the spiritually minded other forms, with more of the beautiful and Jess of the hideous and frightful, revealed themselves ; the solitary recluse, his body and mind reduced to an unnatural condition by fast- ing and penance, in mental hallucination beheld his 4 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC celestial visitants with awe and adoration, and saw in visions angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim towering in a blaze of glory to illimitable height and extremest space. The rapt seraph and the whole angelic host of heaven to his ecstatic gaze was a reve- lation and a reality as tangible as were the powers of darkness seen and felt by more sordid natures, in- capable of the higher conceptions, and whose minds were accessible chiefly through their terrors. To classic fable we are indebted for very many ot the fictitious animals which heralds have introduced into coats armorial. In all ages man has sought to explain by myths certain phenomena of nature which he has been unable to account for in a more rational manner. Earthquakes were the awakening of the earth tortoise which carried the earth on its back ; the tia'es were the pulses of the ocean ; lightning was the breath of demons, the thunderbolt of Jupiter, the hammer of Thor; volcanoes were the forges of the infernal deities. In the old Norse legends we read of waterspouts being looked upon as sea serpents, and wonderful stories are related of their power and influence. The Chinese imagine eclipses to be caused by great dragons which seek to devour the sun. Innumerable beliefs cluster round the sun, moon^ and stars. We may trace from our own language the extent of power which these peculiar beliefs have had over the human mind. We still speak of mad people as lunatics, gloomy people as saturnine, sprightly people we term mercurial ; we say, " Ill-starr'd event," CREATURES IN ART 5 &c. &c. The ships of the early navigators, with masts and sails and other requisites for directing their motion or influencing their speed, would be objects of astonishment to the inhabitants of the countries they visited, causing them to be received with the utmost respect and veneration. The ship was taken for a living animal, and hence originated, some say, the fables of winged dragons, griffons, flying citadels, and men transformed into birds and fishes. The winged Pegasus was nothing but a ship with sails and hence was said to be the offspring of Neptune. " In reality," says Southey, in his preface to the "Morte d'Arthur," vol. ii. 1817, "mythological and romantic tales are current among all savages of whom we have any full account ; for man has his intellectual as well as his bodily appetite, and these things are the food of his imagination and faith. They are found wherever there is language and discourse of reason; in other words, wherever there is man. And in similar states of society the fictions of different people will bear a corresponding resemblance, notwithstanding the differences of time and scene." And Sir Walter Scott, in his " Essay on Romance and Chivalry," following up the same idea, adds, " that the usual appearances and productions of nature offer to the fancy, in every part of the world, the same means of diversifying fictitious narrative by the introduction of prodigies. If in any romance we encounter the description of an elephant, we may reasonably con- clude that a phenomenon unknown in Europe must 6 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC have been borrowed from the East ; but whoever has seen a serpent and a bird may easily aggravate the terrors of the former by conferring on a fictitious monster the wings of the latter ; and whoever has seen or heard of a wolf, or lion and an eagle, may, by a similar exercise of invention, imagine a griffon or a hippogriff." Beyond the common experiences of every-day life the popular mind everywhere cares very little about simple commonplace practical truths. Human nature seems to crave mystery, to be fond of riddles and the marvellous, and doubtless it was ever so and provided for in all the old faiths of the world. " The multitude of dragons, diverse as they are, reflecting the fears and fancies of the most different races, it is more than probable is a relic of the e^rly serpent-worship which, according to Mr. Fergusson, is of such remote antiquity that the religion of the Jews was modern in comparison, the curse laid on the serpent being, in fact, levelled at the ancient superstition which it was intended to supersede. Notwithstanding the various forms under which we find the old dragon he ever retains something of the serpent about him, if no more than the scales. In the mediaeval devil, too, the tail reveals his descent." (Louis F. Day.) The fictitious beings used as symbols in heraldry may be divided into two classes : (i) Celestial beings mentioned in Holy Writ, and those creatures of the imagination which, from the earliest ages, have held CREATURES IN ART 7 possession of men's minds, profound symbols unlike anything in the heavens or in the earth beneath or in the waters under the earth. They may be abstract ideas embodied in tangible shape, such as the terrible creature, the type of some divine quality, that stands calm, immovable, and imperishable within the walls of our National Museum ; such forms as the dragon, of the purely imaginative class, and those creatures compounded of parts of different real animals, yet unlike any one of them, each possessing special symbolic attributes, according to the tradi- tional ideas held concerning them. (2) Animals purely heraldic, such as the heraldic tiger, panther incensed, heraldic antelope, &c., owe their origin and significance to other ideas, and must be ac- counted for on other grounds, namely, the mistaken ideas resulting from imperfect knowledge of these objects in natural history by early writers and herald painters, to whom they were no doubt real animals with natural qualities, and, as such, according to their knowledge, they depicted them ; and although more light has been thrown upon the study of natural history since their time, and many of their con- ceptions have been proved to be erroneous, the well- known heraldic shapes of many of these lusus nature are still retained in modern armory. These animals were such as they could have little chance of seeing, and they probably accepted their descriptions from " travellers' tales," always full of the marvellous and the misleading histories of still earlier writers. 8 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC Pliny and many of the writers of his day describe certain animals in a way that appears the absurdest fable ; even the lion described by him is in some points most unnatural. Xenophon, for instance, describing a boar hunt, gravely tells us : " So hot are the boar's tusks when he is just dead that if a person lays hairs upon them the hairs will shrivel up ; and when the boar is alive they that is, the tusks are actually red hot when he is irritated, for other- wise he would not .singe the tips of the dogs' hair when he misses a blow at their bodies." The sala- mander in flames, of frequent occurrence in heraldry, is of this class. Like the toad, " ugly and veno- mous," the salamander was regarded by the ancients with the utmost horror and aversion. It was ac- credited with wondrous qualities, and the very sight of it r tr.it. u.nl:ce rtner z -lirur'wis. it can kneel and rest on its four knees, whereas it is usually dqaitcd with die bind legs to bend in .the same way as those of the horse or the cow. When artists and herald-painters continue to commit this : i _- der unobserved, some palliation may be afforded to the old heralds lor their offences against zoology information. They could have little opportunity :: i: : _.-. -g a correct knowledge of the rarer kinds of animals; they had not die advantage of seeing menageries of wild beasts, or of consulting books on MUMJ! fcatoty with t "'***"* illustrations, as the modern herald may do. Only when their atarty information fell short did they venture to draw on their imaginations for their beasts, after the manner of an ancient worthy, who " where CREATURES IN ART n the lion's skin fell short, eked it out with the fox's." Some writers, however, maintain that these mon- strosities are not so much die result of ignorance of the real forms of the bents as that they were intended to typify certain extraordinary qualities, and there- fore exaggeration of the natural shapes and functions was needful to express such qualities. This may be true in some instances. Under this idea, the noble form of the lion may have been distorted to resemble the wild cat in the fury of its contortions. The Panther ixcemsed^ breathing fire and smoke out of its mouth, nose and ears, seems as if taken from some misleading frkt^y like that of the boar, by Xeno- phon, already referred to or the result of the erro- neous description of some terrified traveller. This is a natural and probable mode of accounting for its unnatural appearance. It may, however, fairly be said that the natural ferocity of the brute, and also its destructive qualities, are most fitly typified by the devouring flame issning from the head of this blood- thirsty and treacherous beast of prey. 'The Heraldic Peliaa^ again, is evidently a mistake of the early artists, similar to the heraldic tiger, heral- dic antelope, &c^ and the persistent following of the traditional "pattern'* by the heralds when once established. Early Christian painters always repre- sented this emblem of devoted self-sacrifice, A Pdumm in her piety that is, feeding her young with her own blood as having the head and beak of an eagle 12 CREATURES IN ART or bird of prey such as they must have believed it to possess, and with which it would be possible that it could lacerate its own breast ; and not with the clumsy and ungainly " bill " peculiar to this species of bird, which we know is more suited to gobble up small reptiles than to " vulning " itself. Some symbols, again, are neither real nor do they pretend to be fabulous, such as the two-headed eagle, but are pure heraldic inventions that have each their special signification. 'The tricorporate lion lays no claim to be other than the symbol of a powerful triune body under one guiding head ; the three legs conjoined the arms of the Isle of Man is an old Greek sign for expedition. Many other in- stances will, no doubt, occur to the reader of similar emblems of this class. on ^ntmatetr Beings tn on 'Entmatetr 33etngs tn HeraHrtc " One chief source of illustration is to be found in the most brilliant, and in its power on character^ hitherto the most effective of the Arts HERALDRY" RUSKIN, " Relation of Wise Art and Wise Science." ERALDRY is -par excellence the science of symbols. A pictorial de- vice is subject to no exact or regular law, provided it carries its meaning with it. Heraldry, on the contrary, insists on the observance of certain definite and easily understood rules constituting it a science, by the observance of which any one acquainted with heraldic language may, from a con- cise written description (or blazon as it is termed), reconstruct at any time the symbol or series of sym- bols intended, and with perfect accuracy ; for a heraldic emblem once adopted remains unchangeable, no matter with what amount of naturalness or con- ventionality it may be done, or with what quaintness 1 6 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC or even grotesqueness it may be treated ; the symbol remains intact. " A lion rampant" " a dragon" or any other heraldic figure is, therefore, a fixed and immutable idea, and not to be confounded with any other, no matter what the style of artistic or decora- tive treatment it may receive. Notwithstanding the evident intention everywhere in heraldry to be symbolic, in attitude as well as in tinctures, we find the greatest errors and absurdities constantly perpetrated. To many it seems as if it was not considered essential to acquire a knowledge of the rudiments of the science. Heraldry is a living language, and when the attempt is made to express it without proper knowledge the result can only be unmitigated nonsense. By inattention to those principles which regulate the attitude^ the tinctur^es^ and the disposition of every part of an armorial achievement, discredit is brought upon the subject, which should fall upon the head of the ignorant designer alone. No matter what heraldic position of an animal may be blazoned (though it admits of only one interpretation), we find the most unwarrant- able latitude frequently taken by otherwise skilful artists in depicting it. The designer becomes a law unto himself, and it is posed and treated in a way to suit the fancy of the moment. A lion is only a lion to him, and it is nothing more. To the true herald it is very much more. As a mild instance, see the unkind treatment meted out to the supporters of the Royal Arms. The lion and unicorn are both CREATURES IN ART 17 " rampant," and the head of the lion is turned towards the spectator (termed guardant]. Not content to be represented in the regulation positions, they will be found depicted in most strange and fantastic atti- tudes not recognised in heraldry not supporting or guarding the shield, which is their special function. At the head of the Times newspaper they are repre- sented playing at hide and seek round the shield ; elsewhere we see them capering and prancing, or we find them sitting, like begging dogs, as if ashamed of themselves and their vocation. I may here quote from a most admirable work : " That the decorative beauty of heraldry, far from being that of form and colour alone, was also an imaginative one depending much on the symbolic meaning of its designs, there can be no doubt. . . . Early Christian Art was full of symbols, whose use and meaning were discussed in treatises from the second century onwards. By the eleventh it had become systemised and ranged under various heads, Bestiaria for beasts, Volucaria for birds, and Lapidaria for stones. It permeated the whole life of the people in its religious uses, and entered romantically into the half-religious, half-mystical observances of chivalry, the very armour of the valiant knight being full of meanings which it was his duty to know." * * " Decorative Heraldry," by G. W. Eve. 1 8 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC The Symbolism of Attitude or Position IT must be evident to every one who has given any thought to the subject that a definite idea is meant to be conveyed to the mind by the attitude in which an animal is depicted ; and such figures are not mere arbitrary signs, like the letters of the alphabet, which of themselves convey no meaning whatever. "A lion rampant " is, as the term suggests, a lion in the act of fighting, rearing on his hind legs to meet his antagonist. He is therefore depicted with wildly tossed mane, staring eyes, and guly mouth ; his mus- cular limbs and distended claws braced up for the combat betoken the energy and power of the noble brute. How different is the idea conveyed by the lion statant in the firm majesty of his pose, calmly looking before him ; or couchant, fit emblem of restful vigilance and conscious power, prepared on the instant alike to attack or defend. Should any reasons be needed to enforce the neces- sity of adhering strictly to the heraldic law in which attitude plays such an important part, it may be needful only to refer to one or two examples, and cite as an instance in point the noblest of all created beings, and ask whether, of the many acts in which imperious man himself may be heraldically portrayed, the action or position in which he is to be depicted should not indicate distinctly the idea that CREATURES IN ART 19 is to be associated with the representation ? whether vauntingly, like the old kings, " with high exacting look Sceptred and globed " attributes of his power, or as a bishop or saint in the act of benediction, kneeling in prayer as on mediaeval seals, the three savage men ambulant on the shield of Viscount Halifax, or the dead men strewn over the field on the seal of the city of Lichfield in each the primary idea is man, but how different the signification ! It will therefore be understood that the particular action or posture, or any of the various forms in which real or imaginary creatures may be blazoned in heraldry, gives the keynote to its inter- pretation, which, in this respect, is nothing if not symbolic. It will be seen that to interpret the meaning im- plied in any particular charge, the tinctures, as well as the attitude, must be considered. These, taken in combination with the qualities or attributes we asso- ciate with the creature represented, indicate in a threefold manner the complete idea or phase of meaning intended to be conveyed by the composition, and may be thus formulated : (i) THE CREATURE. The primary idea in the symbol is in the particular being represented, whether real or fictitious, as a man, a lion, an eagle, a dragon, &c., of the form and accepted character for some particular quality or attri- 20 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC bute of mind or body, as fierceness, valour, fleetness, &c. (2) ATTITUDE. The various attitudes or positions in which it may be depicted in heraldry } each denoting some special meaning, as ram- pant, sejant, dormant^ &c. (3) TINCTURE. Whether blazoned proper (that is, according to nature) or of some of the heraldic tinctures, as or (gold), gules (red), azure, vert, &c., each tincture, according to the old heralds, bearing a particular and special signification. Tinctures in armorial devices were, however, not always introduced on these scientific principles or adopted from any symbolic meaning, but as arbitrary variations of colour for distinction merely, and as being in themselves equally honourable ; colour alone in many instances serving to distinguish the arms of many families that would otherwise be the same. Hence the necessity for accuracy in blazoning. Guillam lays down some general rules regarding tne symbolic meaning by which all sorts of creatures borne in arms or ensigns are to be interpreted, and by which alone a consistent system can be regulated. " They must," he says, " be interpreted in the best sense, that is, according to their most generous and noble qualities, and so to the greatest honour of their bearers. . . . The fox is full of wit, and withal given wholly to filching for his prey. If, then, this be the charge of an escutcheon, we must conceive CREATURES IN ART 21 the quality represented to be his wit and cunning, but not his pilfering and stealing ; " and so of other beasts. Even in wild and ruthless animals and ficti- tious creatures, symbolic heraldry delights in setting forth their most commendable qualities, as fierceness and courage in overcoming enemies, though they may also possess most detestable qualities. In like manner all sorts of peaceable or gentle- natured creatures must be set forth in their most noble and kindly action, each in its disposition and that which is most agreeable to nature, rather than of an opposite character. Heraldic art thus stamps a peculiar note of dignity for some particular respect in the emblematic figures it accepts, as for some special use, quality or action in the thing depicted ; and this dignity or nobility may have a twofold re- lation, one betwixt creatures of divers kinds, as a lion or a stag, a wolf and a lamb ; the other between beings of one and the same kind, according to their various attitudes or positions in which they may be represented, as a stag courant or at speed, and a stag lodged or at bay ; a lion rampant and a lion coward one will keep the field, the other seek safety in flight, just as one attitude conveys a different signification from another. 22 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC The Heraldic Spirit Effective decorative Quality essential in Heraldry IT will be observable that in the hands of a capable designer imbued with the true heraldic spirit, all ob- jects, animate and inanimate, conform after their kind to decorative necessities, and assume shapes more or less conventional, and, as far as is consistent with effective display of the charge, are made to accom- modate themselves to the space they must occupy. Fierce and savage beasts are made to look full of energy and angry power, while gentle-natured crea- tures are made to retain their harmless traits. In a monster of the dragon tribe, strong leathern wings add to his terrors ; his jaws are wide, his claws are strong and sharp ; he is clothed in impenetrable armour of plates and scales, his breath is fire and flame, lightning darts from his eyes, he lashes his tail in fury ; and all the while the artist is most careful so to spread the creature out on shield or banner that all his powers shall be displayed at once. Whatever liberty the artist may take in his inter- pretation of the form of bird, beast, or monster, there is, however, a limit to his licence beyond which he may not go. He may not alter the recognised symbolic attitude, nor change the tincture ; he is scarcely at liberty to add a feature. He may curl the mane of his lion, fancifully develop its tongue CREATURES IN ART 23 and tail, and display its claws in a manner for which there is little or no authority in nature ; but if he add wings, or endow it with a plurality of heads or tails, it instantly becomes another creature and a totally different symbol.* A wise reticence in treat- ment is more to be commended than such fanciful extravagance. The early artists and heralds, in their strivings to exaggerate in a conventional manner the characteristics of animals for their most effective display, appear to have reached the limits of which their art was capable, and important lessons may be gained from their works. With the extended knowledge of natural history, and the advanced state of art at the present day, decorative and symbolic heraldry should take a leading place in the twentieth century, as in the words of Ruskin, it has been " hitherto the most brilliant " and " most effective of the Arts." * The above notes on heraldic treatment are largely adapted from the admirable works on Decorative Art, by Louis F. Day. elesttal Beings " They boast ethereai vigour and are jornfd From seeds of heavenly birth" VIRGIL. " Down hither prone in flight He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky Sails between world and world with steady wings Now on the polar wind, then with quick fan Winnows the buxom air" MILTON. (NGELS and Archangels the mind loves to contemplate as the ministers of God's omnipotence and beneficence, and delights in believing these celestial beings to be endowed with a higher and purer intelligence, and as being nearer to the divine nature. In all ages civilised man has thought of them and represented them in art as of 28 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC form like to his own, and with attributes of volition and power suggested by wings. Scripture itself justi- fies the similitude ; the Almighty is sublimely repre- sented as " walking upon the wings of the wind." Wings have always been the symbol or attribute of Egyptian Winged Deity. volition, of mind, or of the spirit or air. No apter emblem could be found for a rapid and resistless element than birds or the wings of birds ; and however incongruous such appendages may be, and anatomi- cally impossible, it is figuratively as the messengers of God's will to man that we have come to view these celestial habitants. The idea of adding wings to the human form has existed from remote antiquity, and for the earliest suggestion of celestial beings of the winged human type we must look to the art works of Egypt and Assyria. In Egyptian art, Neith, the goddess of the heavens, was sometimes represented with wings, and in the marbles of Nineveh we find human figures displaying four wings.* In classic art wings are * See Audsley's "Glossary of Architecture," "Angel," p. 101. CREATURES IN ART 29 given to certain divinities and genii. The Jews probably borrowed the idea from the Egyptians, and the early Christians adopted in this as in many other instances existing ideas in their symbolical art to express the attribute of swiftness and power, and the sanction of the practice doubtless fixed it for ac- ceptance through all future epochs of Christian Art. In holy writ and Jewish tradition angels are usually spoken of as men, and their wings appear to be implied rather than expressed, as Hawk-headed and winged figure, when Abraham in the plains emblem of Osiris ' which > havin * of of Mamre addresses his celestial visitors as " my lord," when Jacob wrestles with the angel, and more particularly when the Angel at the Sepulchre is described by St. Matthew, "His countenance was like the lightning and his raiment white as snow," and by St. Mark as " A young man clothed in a long white garment." The Seraphim and Cherubim as winged beings are more perfectly described in the Scriptures. The Wings Variously Coloured. Not content with a simple departure in form from all natural wings, the early and Middle Age artists resorted to many all birds the most piercing eye and the most rapid flight, serves to ex- press the divine intelligence and activity. (Palace of Nimrod in the Louvre.) 30 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC expedients to invest their angels' wings with unearthly characteristics. Colour was a fertile field for their ingenuity, and they lavished all their brilliant hues in accentuating or separating the several orders of feathers comprising the wings; now rivalling the rainbow, now applying the startling contrasts of the most gorgeous tropical butterfly ; at other times sprinkling or tipping the richly painted feathers with burnished gold, or making them appear alive with brilliant eyes. Vesture. In Early Christian Art the white vesture spoken of by St. Matthew and St. John, almost in- variably adopted, consisted of garments resembling the classic tunica and pallium, sometimes bound with the " golden girdle " of Revelation. During the mediaeval period they were clad in every brilliant colour. Angels do not often appear in the works of art executed during the first six centuries of the Church ; and previous to the fifth century they were invariably represented without the nimbus that attribute of divinity with which they were almost always invested throughout the whole range of Middle Age art. Nimbus. The nimbi given to all the orders of the angelic hierarchy are circular in form, with their fields either plain or covered with numerous radiat- ing lines or rays, sometimes with broad borders of ornament, but never with the tri-radiate form, which was specially reserved for the persons of the trinity. CREATURES IN ART 31 Lord Bacon ("Advancement of Learning," Book i.) says we find, as far as credit is to be given to the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the supposed Dionysius, the Senator of Athens, that the first pi ace or degree is given to the angels of love, which are termed Seraphim ; the second to the angels of light, which are termed Cherubim and the third, and so following places, to thrones, principalities, and the rest, which are all angels of power and ministry, so that the angels of knowledge and illumination are placed before the angels of office and domination. Fallen Angels. Wei learn from Tradition that many angels, originally holy like the rest, fell from their pristine purity, becoming so transformed in character that all their powers are now used for the purpose of doing evil instead of doing good. These are to be identified with the devils so frequently mentioned in holy writ. By the artists of the Middle Ages they are depicted in as hideous a manner as could be conceived, more generally of the Satyr form with horns and hoofs and tail, which last connects them with the Dragon of the Apocalypse, the imper- sonation of the Supreme Spirit of evil (see Dragon). In Milton's conception Satan the fallen Angel assumes noble and magnificent proportions. 32 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC Mistaken Modern Conception of Angels MANY poets and artists of modern times appear to have lost sight of the traditions of sacred art, and in their endeavours to spiritualise the character of angelic beings have in this respect been led to portray them as altogether feminine in form and appearance. This error should be carefully avoided, because in a spiritual as well as in a human sense the vigorous active principle they represent, besides having the warrant of Scripture, is more fitly represented by man than by woman. Mahomet, who borrowed his ideas mostly from the Christians, in this instance, possibly to guard his fol- lowers from some latent form of idolatry, said of angels with some show of reason, that " they were too pure in nature to admit of sex," but to meet the ideas of his followers he invented another race of celestial beings for the delight and solace of the faithful in the paradise to which he lured them. Ministering Spirits or Guardian vfngels. These form a frequent theme of poets and artists. The idea was apparently evolved from the mention of " ministering spirits" before the throne of God in holy writ, and from the ecclesiastical legends and traditions of the Christian mythology of early date, derived from still earlier sources. Thus Milton speaks of CREATURES IN ART 33 " one of the Seven Who in God's presence, nearest to the throne Stand ready at command, and are his eyes That run thro' all the heavens, and down to earth Bear his swift errands." Paradise Lost^ iii. According to ancient Jewish belief, each person had his or her guardian angel, and a spirit could assume the aspect of some visible being : " But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, c It is his angel? " Acts xii. 1 5. " Brutus as you know was Caesar's Angel: Judge, O ye God, how dearly Caesar loved him." SHAKESPEARE, Julius C&sar, Act iii. sc. 2. Spenser finely expresses the idea of the good and evil influences continually warring unseen about us, and his gratitude for the effective protection of the guardian spirits : " How oft do they their silver bowers leave, To come to succour us that succour want ! How oft do they with golden pinions cleave The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant, Against fowle fiends to ayde us militant ! They for us fight, they watch, and dewly ward, And their bright squadrons round about us plant ; And all for love, and nothing for reward : O why should heavenly God to men have such regard ? c 34 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC Milton beautifully assumes the pure nature ot saintly chastity attended by ministering spirits : " A thousand liveried angels lackey her, Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt, And in clear dream and solemn vision, Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear ; Till oft converse with heavenly habitants Begins to cast a beam on the outward shape." " Comus." And Scott, in figurative language, apostrophising woman in her higher and more spiritual sphere, says in " Marmion " : "When pain and anguish wring the brow, A ministering angel thou ! " Shakespeare expresses a prevailing idea that the pure in heart will become ministering angels in heaven ; Laertes, at the grave of Ophelia, fiercely thunders forth : "I tell thee, churlish priest, A ministering angel shall my sister be When thou liest howling." Mediaeval Art Treatment of Angels ACCORDING to ecclesiastical legend and tradition there are nine degrees of angelic beings. St. Diony- sius relates that there are three hierarchies of angels and three orders in each ; and by wise allegories each had his special mission, and they were each depicted CREATURES IN ART 35 with certain insignia by which they were recognised in art representations, which vary somewhat in examples of different periods. The nine choirs of angels are classed as follow, with the name of the chief of each, according to ancient legend : Cherubim Jophiel Seraphim Uriel Thrones Zaphkiel Dominions Zadchiel Virtues Haniel Powers Raphael Principalities Camiel Archangels Michael dngels Gabriel According to A. Welby Pugin's " Glossary of Architectural Ornament and Costume," and other authorities, we learn the mediaeval conception of these beings. The following emblems are borne by angels : FLAMING SWORDS, denoting " the wrath of God"; TRUMPETS, " the voice of God " ; SCEPTRES, "the power of God " ; THURIBLES, or censers, the incense being the prayers of saints ; INSTRUMENTS OF Music, to denote their felicity. The APPARELS, or borders of their robes, are jewelled with SAPPHIRE for " celestial contempla- tion"; RUBY, "divine love"; CRYSTAL, "purity"; EMERALD, "unfading youth." ARCHANGELS are the principal or chief angels, and are extraordinary ambassadors. Among these the name of GABRIEL the angel of the annunciation, the head of the entire celestial hierarchy denotes " the power of God"; MICHAEL, " who is like God"; RAPHAEL, "the healing of God" ; URIEL, " the fire of God." 36 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC ANGEL is the name, not of an order of beings, but of an office, and means messenger : wherefore angels are represented YOUNG to show their con- tinued strength, and WINGED to show their un- weariedness ; WITHOUT SANDALS, for they do not belong to the earth ; and GIRT, to show their readi- ness to go forth and execute the will of God. Their garments are either WHITE, to denote their purity, or GOLDEN, to show their sanctity and glory, or they are of any of the symbolical colours used in Christian Art. A writer in the Ecclesiastical Art Review, May 1878, I. Lewis Andres, architect, says that "we seldom find angels clad in any other ecclesiastical vestments than the ALB (or tunic of various colours), and the amice. The AMICE is sometimes like a mere loose collar ; at other times it has richly embroidered APPARELS (or borders), and is exactly like the priestly vestment as worn in the Middle Ages. Instead of the amice we sometimes find a scarf or cloth tied in a knot around the neck, the ends falling down in front. " In Anne of Brittany's prayer-book is a beautiful figure of St. Michael. He has a rayed nimbus, a cross on a circlet round his head, a richly embroidered dalmatic (a long robe with sleeves partly open at the sides), and holds a sword in his left hand. The em- blems of St. Michael are a crown, a sword, a shield charged with a cross of St. George, or a spear with the banner of the cross, or else with scales in his hand. CREATURES IN ART 37 Sometimes, as at South Leigh, Oxon., he is in complete armour. " The archangels are often figured with a trumpet in the right hand, scarfs round neck and loins ; six wings, sometimes four at the shoulders and two at the hips, the legs bare from the thighs. The four archangels are frequently represented in complete armour and with swords. "The angels in the Benedictional of St. Ethelwold nearly resemble much later representations ; they have wings and the nimbus or aureole, long hair and girded loins, whilst the feet are bare, as is generally the case at all periods of Gothic Art ; but the characteristic drapery is loose and flowing as in the Saxon figures of saints ; the wings are short and broad, the nimbus is generally rayed like the spokes of a wheel (a form seen in the work of Giotto, with whom it seems to have been a favourite). The alb or vesture has loose sleeves, and at times a mantle or cope envelops the figure ; both sleeves and mantles have embroideries or apparels." " The modern taste," says the same writer, " for giving angels pure white vesture does not appear to be derived from the Middle Ages, and certainly not from the best period when angels were clad in every brilliant colour, as a beautiful example at St. Michael's, York, shows. Here an angel swinging a golden censer has a green tunic covered with a white cloak or mantle. The nimbus is bright blue, and the wings have the upper parts yellow, and are tipped FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC with green. At Goodnestowe church, St. Michael has a deep crimson tunic, a white mantle edged with a rich gold border, green wings, and a light crimson nimbus,"and mention is here made of the white vesture of the angel at the Sepulchre, and that nowhere else does the Gospel mention any angel clad in white but in the narratives of Our Lord's resurrection. " Often the angels' wings are feathered red and blue alternately, as on the pulpit at Cheddar, Somerset. Some- times the wings have feathers like those of a peacock, on the Chapter House, Westmin- ster ; round the Wall Arcade, angels have their wings in- scribed with a text on every feather. This corresponds with the French ' hours ' of Anne of Brittany, where an angel (St. Gabriel) wears a mantle with a text running along the border." It was not uncommon to represent angels in carv- ing and stained glass in the latter part of the fifteenth century as feathered all over like birds. Cloud Symbol of the " Sky "or " Air." Artists of the Mediaeval and Renaissance periods, following classical authority, employed the cloud symbol of the sky or Angel with Cloud Symbol. CREATURES IN ART 39 air in their allegories and sacred pictures of divine persons, saints, and martyrs, to denote their divine or celestial condition, as distinguished from beings "of the earth earthy." The adoption of the little cloud under- neath the feet, when the figure is not represented flying, naturally suggested itself as the most fitting emblem for a support, and avoided the apparent incongruity of beings in material human shape standing upon nothing. The suggestion of the aerial support here entirely obviates any thought of the outrage on the laws of gravity. Another distinguishing attribute is the Nimbus an emblem of divine power and glory placed behind or over the head. The crown is an insignia of civil power borne by the laity ; the nimbus is ecclesiastical and religious. The pagans were fami- liar with the use of the nimbus, which appears upon the coins of some of the Roman Emperors. It was widely adopted by the Early Christian artists, and up till the fifteenth century was represented as a circular disc or plate behind the head, of gold or of various colours, and, according to the shape and ornamenta- tion of the nimbus, the elevation or the divine degree of the person was denoted. It was displayed behind the heads of the Persons of the Trinity and of angels. It is also worn as a mark of honour and distinction by saints and martyrs. At a later period, when the traditions of early art were to some extent laid aside, 'i.e., from the fifteenth century until towards the end of the seventeenth century, as M. Dideron informs us, 4 o FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC a simple unadorned ring, termed a " circle of glory," " takes the place of the nimbus and is represented as hovering over the head. It became thus idealised and transparent, showing an outer circle only ; the field or disc is altogether omitted* or suppressed, being drawn in perspective and formed by a simple thread of light as in the Disputer of Raphael. Sometimes it is only an uncertain wavering line resembling a circle of light. On the other hand, the circular line often disappears as if it were unworthy to enclose the divine light emanating from the head. It is a shadow of flame, circular in form but not permitting itself to be circumscribed." Although the forms of angels are of such frequent occurrence in Mediaeval Art they seem to abound more especially in the fifteenth century. Angels are seen in every possible combination, with ecclesi- astical and domestic architecture, and form the subject of many allusions in heraldry. They are fre- quently used as supporters. Charles Boutell, M.A., "English Heraldry," Angel Supporter. CREATURES IN ART 4 1 p. 247, says, regarding angels used as supporters to the armorial shield : " The introduction of angelic figures which might have the appearance of acting as ' guardian angels ' in their care of shields of arms, was in accordance with the feelings of the early days of English heraldry ; and, while it took a part in leading the way to the systematic use of regular supporters, it served to show the high esteem and honour in which armorial insignia were held by our ancestors in those ages." And reference is made to examples sculptured in the noble timber roof of Westminster Hall and elsewhere. As an example we give the shield of arms of the Abbey of St. Albans. Figures of angels holding shields of arms, each figure having a shield in front of its breast, are fre- quently sculptured in Gothic churches. They appear on seals, as on that of Henry of Lancaster about 1 350, which has the figure of an angel on each side of it. The shield of Richard II. at Westminster Hall, bearing the arms of France ancient and England quarterly, is supported by angels, which, if not Kneeling Angel Supporter. 42 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC rather ornamental than heraldic, were possibly in- tended to denote his claim to the crown of France, being the supporters of the Royal arms of that king- dom. Upon his Great Seal other supporters are used. There are also instances of the shield of Henry VI. being supported by angels, but they are by some authorities considered as purely religious symbols rather than heraldic. The supporters of the King of France were two angels standing on clouds, all proper, vested with taberts of the arms, the dexter France, the sinister Navarre, each holding a banner of the same arms affixed to a tilting-spear, and the cri de guerre or motto, " Mont-joye et St. Denis." The shield bears the impaled arms of France and Navarre with several orders of knighthood, helmet, mantling and other accessories, all with a pavilion mantle. Although Francis II., Charles IX., Henry III. and IV. and Louis XIII. had special supporters of their arms, yet they did not exclude the two angels of Charles VI., which were considered as the ordinary supporters of the kingdom of France. Louis XIV., Louis XV. and Louis XVI. never used any others. Arms of the Abbey of St. Albans. CREATURES IN ART 43 Verstegan quaintly says that Egbert was " chiefly moved " to call his kingdom England " in respect of Pope Gregory changing the name of Engelisce into Angellyke," and this " may have moved our kings upon their best gold coins to set the image of an angel." * "... Shake the bags Of hoarding abbots ; their imprisoned angels Set them at liberty." SHAKESPEARE, King John, iii. 3. The gold coin was named from the fact that on one side of it was a representation of the archangel in conflict with the dragon (Rev. xii. 7). The reverse had a ship. It was intro- duced into England by Edward IV. in 1456. Between his reign and that of Charles I. it varied in value from 6s. %d. to los. "Restit. of Decayed Intell. in Antiq." p. 147. 44 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC Cijetufrim anti S>erapf)im in J^eraltrrg " On cherubim and seraphim Full royally he rode" STEENHOLD. " What, always dreaming over heavenly things, Like angel heads in stone with pigeon wings" COWPER, " Conversation." IN heraldry A CHERUB (plural Cherubim) is always represented as the head of an infant between a pair of wings, usually termed a " cherub's head." A SERAPH (plural Sera- phim), in like manner, is always depicted as the head of a child, but with three pairs of wings; the two upper- most and the two lowermost Cherubs' Heads. .. are contranly crossed, or in saltire ; the two middle- most are displayed. C/avering, of Callaby Castle, North- umberland, bears for crest a cherub's head with wings erect. Motto : CCELOS VOLENS. On funereal achievements, setting forth the rank A Seraph's Head. CREATURES IN ART 45 and circumstance of the deceased, it is usual to place over the lozenge-shaped shield containing arms of a woman, whether spinster, wife, or widow, a cherub's head, and knots or bows of ribbon in place of crests, helmets, or its mantlings, which, according to heraldic law, cannot be borne by any woman, sovereign princesses only excepted. In representing the cherubim by infants' winged heads, the early painters meant them to be emble- matic of a pure spirit glow- ing with love and intelli- gence, the head the seat of the soul, and the wings attribute of swiftness and spirit alone retained. The body or limbs of the cherub and seraph are never shown in heraldry, for what reason it is diffi- cult to say, unless it be from the ambiguity of the descriptions in the sacred writings and consequent difficulty of representing them. The heralds adopted the figure of speech termed synecdoche, which adopts a part to represent the whole. Sir Joshua Reynolds has embodied the modern conception in his exquisite painting of cherubs' heads, Portrait Studies of Frances Isabella Ker, daughter of Lord William Gordon, now in the National Collec- tion. It represents five infants' heads with wings, in Arms Azure a chevron argent between three cherubs' heads of the last. 46 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC different positions, floating among clouds. This idea of the cherub seems to have found ready acceptance with poets and painters. Shakespeare sings : " Look how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold : There's not the smallest orb which thou beholdest But in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim Such harmony is in immortal souls : But while this muddy vesture of decay Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it." Many of the painters of the period of the Renais- sance represented the cherub similarly to those in Reynolds' picture. They were also in the habit of introducing into their pictures of sacred subjects nude youthful winged figures, " celestial loves," sporting in clouds around the principal figure or figures, or assisting in some act that is being done. Thus Spenser invests "The Queen of Beauty and of Love the Mother" with a troop of these little loves, "Cupid, their elder brother." ** And all about her neck and shoulders flew A flock of little loves, and sports and joys With nimble wings of gold and purple hue ; Whose shapes seemed not like to terrestrial boys, But like to angels playing heavenly toys." Faerie Queen^ Book x. cant. x. p. 153. These must not, however, be confounded with the cherub and seraph of Scripture. It was a thoroughly CREATURES IN ART 47 pagan idea, borrowed from classic mythology, and unworthy of Christian Art. It soon degenerated into "earthly loves" and " cupids," or amorini as they were termed and as we now understand them. ffifjetufmn & Seraphim of IN Ecclesiastical Art literal renderings of the de- scriptions contained in the Old Testament and the Apocalypse are not of unfrequent use. A more lengthened reference to these great Hebrew symbolic beings will not be considered out of place, as there is great doubt and uncertainty as to their forms. These mystic symbolic beings were familiar to all the patriarchs from Adam, who gazed upon them in Paradise, and against whom on his expulsion they stood with flaming sword, turning every way to bar his return to Moses, who trembled before it on Mount Sinai ; while to the Priests and Levites, the custodians of the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle, the 48 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC cherubim remained the sacred guardians in the Holy of Holies of the palladium of the national faith and liberties during the brightest and, as it has been termed, the most heroic period of Jewish history. Josephus, the more effectually to excite respect for the great Hebrew symbol in the minds of his readers, pur- posely throws over it the veil of obscurity. He says : " The cherubim are winged creatures, but the form of them does not resemble that of any living creature seen by man." In the works of Philo Judasus there is an express disserta- tion upon the cherubim. The learned Brochart and many others have attempted to eluci- date the subject to little pur- pose. The ambiguity which always accompanies a written description of objects with which we are imperfectly acquainted applies with greater force to this mys- terious being combining so many apparently con- flicting attributes. To the prophetic vision of Ezekiel, the description of which, in the opinion of competent critics, excels in grandeur of idea and energy of expression the most celebrated writers of ancient and modern times, the reader is referred, as it supplies at first hand Angel crest of Tuite, Bart, co. Tip. CREATURES IN ART 49 almost all that can be known concerning the fearful form of the cherubim . The four living creatures that support the throne of God exhibited to Ezekiel a fourfold aspect ; they had each the face of a man, the face of a lion, and the face of an ox ; they also had the face of an eagle. They had each four wings ; they had the hands of a man under their wings. " Two wings of every one were joined one to the other, and two covered their bodies." They were accompanied by wheels which " went upon their four sides, and they turned not when they went"; " and their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and their wheels were full of eyes " ; " and the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning." Such is a concise description of their appearance as set forth in Ezekiel (chap. i.). " This wonderful and mysterious hieroglyph must be considered as a striking and expressive emblem of the guardian vigilance of providence, all-seeing and omniscient ; while the number of wings exhibit to us direct symbols of that powerful, that all-pervading spirit which, while it darts through nature at a glance, is everywhere present to protect and defend us " (Dideron). So attached were the Jews to this celestial symbol that when Solomon erected that stupendous temple which continued the glory and boast of the Hebrew nation for so many ages, we are told ( I Kings, vi. 29, viii. 6, 7), he carved all the walls of the house 50 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC round about with the sculptured figures of the cherubim, and on each side of the ark was a cherub of gold plated upon olive wood fifteen feet high, with their faces to the light, their expanded wings em- bracing the whole space of the sacred enclosure, serving as a visible sign or symbol of God's imme- diate presence, whence the saying of David, " God sitteth between the cherubim" (Ps. xcix. i). In this place God perpetually resided in the form of a bright cloud or shining luminous body, termed " shechinah," whence the divine oracles were audibly delivered. Milton gives the following description of the Seraph Raphael : " At once on the eastern cliff of Paradise He lights, and to his proper shape returns A seraph wing'd ; six wings he wore to shade His lineaments divine ; the pair that clad Each shoulder broad came mantling o'er his breast With regal ornament : the middle pair Girt like a. starry zone his waist, and round Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold And colours dipped in heaven ; the third, his feet Shadows from either heel with feather'd mail Sky tinctured grain. Like Maia's son he stood And shook his plumes, that heavenly fragrance fill'd The circuit wide." Paradise Lost, Book v. The cherub is traditionally regarded as a celestial spirit which in the hierarchy is placed next in order CREATURES IN ART 51 to the seraphim. All the several descriptions which the Scripture gives us of cherubim differ from one another, as they are described in the shapes of men, eagles, oxen, lions, and in a composition of all these figures put together. The hieroglyphical represen- tations in the embroidery upon the curtains of the tabernacle were called by Moses (Ex. xxvi. i) " cherubim of cunning work " (Calmet). The seraphim are regarded as an order of angels distinguished for fervent zeal and religious ardour. The word means " burning," i.e., with Divine Love. The seraphim are described by Isaiah (vi. 1-3): " I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim : each one had six wings ; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried to another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts : the whole earth is full of his glory." And in Revela- tion (iv. 6) : " Round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind, and the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within." It will be noticed that these descriptions differ from that of Ezekiel, not only in the number of wings, but also in the indi- viduality of each beast being separate and independent, not compounded of the four. 52 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC Several forms of these mystical creatures, says Audsley, have been devised by the early mediaeval artists ; those which display the entire forms of the man, the lion y the ox t and the eagle y all winged and invested with the nimbus, appear to have been most frequently made use of. They are to be met with formed of the heads of the mystical creatures on bodies or half-bodies of winged human figures ; at other times we find them comprised in the heads and wings only of the four symbolic creatures. Sometimes they are found united and forming one mys- terious being called the Tetramorph with four heads and numerous wings covered with eyes, the feet resting on wheels, which are also winged. The example is taken from a Tetramorph. Byzantine mosaic in the con- vent of Vatopedi, on Mount Athos. Pugin's " Glossary of Ecclesiastical Ornament and Costume " says the cherubim are frequently repre- sented of a bright red colour to set forth the intensity of divine love, and usually standing upon wheels, in reference to the vision of the prophet Ezekiel. CREATURES IN ART 53 Cherubim and seraphim seem always vested in the alb or tunic, and a scarf tied in a knot round the neck. ffimfclems of tfje jFcwt (Kbangeltsts THE winged living figures, symbols of the evangel- ists, which are most frequently met with, and which have ever been most in favour with Early Christian artists, appear to have been used at a very early date. They are taken from the vision of Ezekiel and the Revelation of St. John. "The writings of St. Jerome," says Audsley, " in the beginning of the fifth century gave to artists authority for the appropriation of the four creatures to the evangelists," and for reasons which are there given at length. ST. MATTHEW : Winged Man, Incarnation. To St. Matthew was given the creature in human like- ness, because he commences his gospel with the human generation of Christ, and because in his writings the human nature of Our Lord is more dwelt upon than the divine. ST. MARK : Winged Lion, The Resurrection. The Lion was the symbol of St. Mark, who opens his gospel with the mission of John the Baptist, " the voice of one crying in the wilderness." He also sets forth the royal dignity of Christ and dwells upon His power manifested in the resurrection from the dead. The lion was accepted in early times as a symbol of 54 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC the resurrection because the young lion was believed always to be born dead, but was awakened to vitality by the breath, the tongue, and roaring of its sire. ST. LUKE : Winged OAT, Passion. The form of the ox, the beast of sacrifice, fitly sets forth the sacred CREATURES IN ART 55 office, and also the atonement for sin by blood, on which, in his gospel, he particularly dwells. ST. JOHN : The Eagle, Ascension. The eagle was allotted to St. John because, as the eagle soars towards heaven, he soared in spirit upwards to the heaven of heavens to bring back to earth revelation of sublime and awful mysteries. Independently of their reference to the four evangel- ists these figures sometimes refer to the Incarnation, the Passion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. Sedulius, a priest and poet of the fifth century, says much the same in the following verse : |^oc Jfflattfjaus agens, f^omtnem geiwalfter t'mplet : .Plarcus ut alta (remit box per fceserta Heonfe : gfura sacerfcotis Hucas tenet ore gubemt : IWore bolens &qutte berbo petit astra Hfo&annes. THE LION OF ST. MARK. In the ninth century the rapidly rising State of Venice was dignified by the reception of the relics of St. Mark, transported thither from Alexandria. " Few patron saints," says Theodore A. Buckley, " enjoy a greater popularity, whether socially or locally exemplified. His lion was emblazoned on the standard of the Republic, and stamped on the current coins, while his name was identified with the pride, the power, and glory of all Venice." * Emblems of the evangelists do not often appear in heraldry. * Great Cities of the Middle Ages." 56 CREATURES IN ART Walter Reynolds, Archbishop of Canterbury, according to a manuscript at Lambeth (executed for Archbishop Laud), bore azure on a cross or, between the symbols of the evangelists of the last y four lions rampant gules. The Freemasons appear to use a similar coat of arms upon their seal, viz., a cross between the emblems of the four evangelists, and for supporters two cherubims, all proper. The Lion of St. Mark, Venice. fitmertcal (Kreatum of tfje Bragon anlr ^erpent fetntr IBragon " The scaly monster of a dragon, coiled Full In the central field unspeakable, With eyes oblique retorted, that askant Shot gleaming fire" HESIOD. " The Shield of Hercules." jHE dragon is the most interesting and most frequently seen of all chimerical figures, and it is a re- markable fact that such a creature appears at an early period of the world's history to have been known in the East and in countries widely separated. Long anterior to the dawn of civilisation in the West of Europe, even in far-off China and Japan in the ex- treme East of Asia we find the dragon delineated in very much the same form in which it appears in our national heraldry. The ancients conceived it as the embodiment of 60 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC malignant and destructive power, and with attributes of the most terrible kind. Classic story makes us acquainted with many dreadful monsters of the dragon kind, to which reference will afterwards be more particularly made. It is often argued that the monsters of tradition are but the personification of solar influences, storms, the desert wind, the great deeps, rivers inundating their banks, or other violent phenomena of nature, and so, no doubt, they are, and have been ; but the strange fact remains that the same draconic form with slight modifications constantly appears as the type of the thing most dreaded, and instead of melt- ing into an abstraction and dying out of view, it has remained from age to age, in form, distinctly a ferocious flying reptile, until in the opinion of many the tradition has been justified by prosaic science. It is surprising to find that the popular conception of the dragon founded on tradition, passed on through hundreds of generations not only retains its identity, but bears a startling resemblance to the original antediluvian saurians, whose fossil remains now come to light through geological research, almost proving the marvellous power of tradition and the veracity of those who passed it on. Mr. Moncure Conway (" Demonology, or Devil Lore ") says : " The opinion has steadily gained that the conventional dragon is the traditional form of some huge saurian. It has been suggested that some of those extinct saurians may have been con- CREATURES IN ART 61 temporaneous with the earliest men, and that tradi- tions of conflicts with them, transmitted orally and pictorially, have resulted in preserving their forms in fable proximately." " Among the geological specimens in the British Museum," says Hugh Miller, "the visitor sees shapes that more than rival in strangeness the great dragons and griffins of mediaeval legends ; enormous jaws, bristling with pointed teeth, gape horrid, in stone, under staring eye-sockets a foot in diameter; and necks that half equal in length the entire body of a boa-constrictor. And here we see a winged dragon that, armed with sharp teeth and strong claws, has careered through the air on leathern wings like those of a bat." We are also told in the sacred Scriptures by Moses of " fiery serpents," and by Isaiah of " a fiery flying serpent." Other monsters dragons, cockatrices, and some of whose form we have no conception are also mentioned. Euripides de- scribes a dragon or snake breathing forth fire and slaughter, and rowing its way with its wings. It is evident that such a creature may at one time have existed. Looking at the widespread belief in dragons, there seems little doubt that the semi-myth of to-day is the traditional successor of a really once- existent animal, whose huge size, snake-like appear- ance, and possibly dangerous powers of offence made him so terrible that the earlier races of mankind adopted him unanimously as the most fearful embodi- ment of animal ferocity to be found. 62 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC One of the latest acquisitions in the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, is the skeleton of that enormous creature the long-limbed dinosaur (Diplo- dicus Carnegit), recently discovered in America, eighty-nine feet in length from the head to the tip of the tail, the huge bulky framework of the monster measuring eleven feet in height at the shoulder. The enormous length of its neck and tail, with relatively small head, would indicate it to be an amphibious inhabitant of the waters, feeding on the vegetation growing in its depths. Mr. Moncure Conway, in his remarkable work, " Demonology, or Devil Lore," describes all inter- mediate stages between demon and devil under the head of dragon. This he believes to be the only fabulous form which accurately describes all the transitions. Throughout all the representations of the dragon one feature is common, and that is the idealised serpent. The dragon possesses all the properties of the demon along with that of harmful- ness, but differs from the devil in not having the desire of doing evil. The dragon in mythology is the combination of every bad feature in nature, all of which is combined into one horrible whole. " The modern conventional dragon," says Mr. Conway, " is a terrible monster. His body is partially green, with memories of the sea and of slime, and partly brown or dark, with lingering shadows of storm-clouds. The lightning flames still in his red eyes, and flashes from his fire-breathing mouth. CREATURES IN ART 63 The thunderbolt of Jove, the spear of Woden, are in the barbed point of his tail. His huge wings bat-like and spiked sum up all the mys- teries of extinct harpies and vampires. Spine of crocodile is on his neck, tail of the serpent and all the jagged ridges of rocks and sharp thorns of jungles bristle round him, while the ice of glaciers and brassy glitter of sunstrokes are in his scales. He is ideal of all that is hard, destructive, perilous, loathsome, horrible in nature ; every detail of him has been seen through and vanquished by man, here or there ; but in selection and combination they rise again as principles, and conspire to form one great generalisation of the forms of pain, the sum of every creature's worst.'* " THE EXTERNAL FORMS OF DRAGONS are greatly dependent on the nature of the country in which they originate. In the far north, where exist the legends of the swan and pigeon, maidens and vampires, exists the swan-shaped dragon. As de- mons of excessive heat principally existed in the south, so in the north the great enemy of man was excessive cold. In the northern countries is found also the serpent element, but as serpents are there frequently harmless, this feature does not enter much into their composition. The CUTTLEFISH is supposed to have helped in the formation of the HYDRA, which in its turn assisted in forming the dragon of the Apo- calypse . Assyrian ideas also seem to have assisted in the pictorial impersonations of the hydra. This 64 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC many-headed monster is a representation of a torrent, which being cut off in one direction breaks out in another. The conflicts of Hercules with the hydra are repeated in those of the Assyrian Bel with Tri- nant (the deep), and also in the contentions of St. Michael with the dragon. The old dragon myths left in Europe were frequently utilised by the Christians. Other saints besides St. Michael were invested with the feats of Hercules ; St. Margaret, St. Andrew, and many others are pictured as trampling dragons under their feet. The Egyptian dragon is based on the crocodile, and this form being received into Christian symbolism did greatly away with other pagan monsters. The hideousness of the crocodile and the alligator could easily be exaggerated so as to suit the most horrible contortions of the human imagination. Amongst the most terrible dragons is Typhon, the impersonation of all the terrors of nature. Son of Tartarus, father of the harpies and of the winds, he lives in the African deserts ; from thence fled in fear, to escape his terrible breath, all the gods and goddesses. He is coiled in the whirlwind, and his many heads are symbolical of the tempest, the scrive, the hurricane, and the tornado." Under the head of THE COLONIAL DRAGON Mr. Conway has embodied all the horrors and difficulties with which the early colonists would be beset. Amongst these he places the GORGON and the CHIMERA. The most widely spread of all is the last named, and from it is supposed that all Christian and British dragons CREATURES IN ART 65 are descended. The Christian myth of ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON is but a variation of BELLEROPHON AND THE CHIMERA, in which the last has given place to the dragon and the pagan hero to St. George. " In ancient families there are usually traditions of some far-distant ancestor having slain a desperate monster. It is always the colonial dragon that has Japanese Dragon. been borrowed by poets and romancers. THE DRA- GON killed by Guy of Warwick is but another variation of the chimera. There is again the SOCK- BURN WORM, slain by Sir John Conyers for the de- vouring of the people of the neighbourhood ; the well- known tradition of the LAMBTON WORM is in reality a modification of the ARYAN DRAGON OF THE STORM- CLOUD ; smaller than a man's hand he swells out to prodigious dimensions." A favourite subject for Chinese and Japanese painting and sculpture is a dragon very much of the 66 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC same type, and a monstrous representation of a dragon in the form of a huge Saurian still forms the central object at Japanese festivals. Among the Chinese the dragon is the representa- tion of sovereignty, and is the imperial emblem borne upon banners, and otherwise displayed as the national ensign. To the people of that vast country it repre- sents everything powerful and imposing ; and it plays an important part in many religious ceremonies and observances. Dr. S. Wells Williams, the eminent sinalogue, describes the fabulous monster of Chinese imagination in the following passage : " There are three dragons the lung in the sky, the // in the sea, and the kiau in the marshes. The first is the only authentic species according to the Chinese ; it has the head of a camel, the horns of a deer, eyes of a rabbit, ears of a cow, neck of a snake, belly of a frog, scales of a carp, claws of a hawk, and palm of a tiger. On each side of the mouth are whiskers, and its beard contains a bright pearl ; the breath is sometimes changed into water and sometimes into fire, and its voice is like the jingling of copper pans. The dragon of the sea occasionally ascends to heaven in waterspouts, and is the ruler of all oceanic pheno- mena." The fishermen and sailors before venturing away from land or returning to port, burn joss-sticks and beat gongs to ward off the evil influences of the dragon, and it is worshipped in a variety of ways. According to a fable current in China, the Celestial Emperor Hoang-ti was carried up to heaven, along CREATURES IN ART 67 with seventy other persons,- by a great dragon ; those who were only able to catch at his moustaches were shaken off and thrown on the ground. It is still the custom when an emperor dies to say that the dragon has ascended to heaven. An eclipse the simple JAPANESE IMPERIAL DEVICE. The Dragon, the Ho-Ho, or Phoenix, and the Chrysanthemum. Celestials believe to be caused by a great dragon that seeks to devour the sun or moon. A great noise is made by firing guns, beating drums, and the rattling and jangling of pairs of discordant instruments to frighten the monster away. A frequent subject of their artists is the dreadful dragon sprawling through masses of curling clouds in the act of grasping at or swallowing the great luminary, a subject which no doubt bears a deeper meaning than we see, and one intimately connected with their mythology. 68 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC In some of their splendid festivals the worship of the dragon is celebrated with great excitement and furore. On the Canton river a boat of immense length formed like a dragon in many wondrous folds, rowed by fifty or more natives, with wild music and dancing, and accompanied by a crowd of junks ; the unfurling of sails and the streaming of flags from the masts, the beating of drums, the noise and smoke from the firing of guns, all exhibit the fondness of a people for the pleasures of a national holiday. Dragon's Teeth. Cadmus slew , the dragon that guarded the well of Ares, and sowed some of the teeth, from which sprang up the armed men who all killed each other except five, who were the ancestors of the Thebans. Those teeth which Cadmus did not sow, came to the possession of ^Etes, King of Colchis ; and one of the tasks he enjoined on Jason was to sow these teeth and slay the armed warriors that rose therefrom. The frequent allusion to the classic term dragon's teeth refers to subjects of civil strife ; whatever rouses citizens to rise in arms. The mythical dragon has left the lasting impress of his name in various ways in our language and literature, as in the art of nearly every country. Q Dragon s Head and 5 Dragon's Tail. In astro- nomy Nodes are the opposite points in which the orbit of a planet, or of a moon, crosses the ecliptic. The ascending node marked by the character ( Q ), CREATURES IN ART 69 termed the Dragon s head, is where the planet or moon ascends from the south to the north side of the ecliptic, and the descending node indicated by the character (Q) the 'Dragon's tail is where it passes from the north to the south side. Draco, a constellation in the northern hemi- sphere, representing the monster that watched the golden apples in the garden of the Hesperides, slain by Hercules, and set as a constellation in the heavens. Draco miens, a meteor sometimes visible in marshy countries Ignus fatuus, or will-o'-the-wisp. Draco volens, or flying dragon, a curious class of saurian reptiles peculiar to the East Indies, having membranous attachments to their limbs, which give them the appearance of flying as they leap from tree to tree. Dragon's blood, a vegetable balsam of a dark red colour brought from India,Africa,and South America. So called from its resemblance to dried and hardened masses of blood. 3Cfje Btagon in (Efjttstian (The symbol of the Supreme Spirit of Evil, or the Evil One) IT was believed that in the gloomy land of the Cimmerians and the confines of Hades strange monsters were to be met ; and not only there, but in any part of the universe which was conceived to be 70 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC beyond the pale of human habitation these weird creatures might be encountered. The same idea is recognised in the Semitic belief, that uncanny beings lurked in the outer deserts, where men did not penetrate at all, or did so only at great danger. The " place of dragons " is associated with " the shadow of death " (Ps. xliv. 19). Dragons are also associated with the waters of the deep (Ps. Ixxiv. 13) and are called upon to praise Jehovah (Ps. cxlviii. 7) ; and Isaiah (xxxiv.), describing in vivid and picturesque language the destruction and utter desolation which shall come on Zion's enemies, prophesies that her palaces and fortresses " shall be a habitation for dragons." The term dragon is applied by the translators of the Scriptures to some monsters of which we have no knowledge. The word is used by ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages as the symbol of sin in general and paganism in particular, though ofttimes heresy is denoted. The metaphor is derived from Rev. xii. 9, where Satan is termed the Great Dragon ; in Psalm xci. 13, it is said "the saints shall trample the dragon under their feet." In the book of Job we recognise in Leviathan a creature more like the extinct saurians of the old world than any crocodile recorded in historic times ; and this leviathan is treated as still existing in the days of David. In Psalm Ixxiv. 13, 14, Jehovah is spoken of as having broken the heads of the dragons in the waters ; in Isaiah li. 9, as having CREATURES IN ART 7 1 wounded the dragon; and pasans are sung on the punishment of " Leviathan, that crooked serpent," and the slaying of " the dragon that is in the sea " (Is. xxvii. i). Finally, in the Apoca- lyptic vision, a trots testes de bys rases gules ' (Anglice^ argent, a chevron between three serpents' heads erased gules)." The well-known historic device, the Biscia or serpent devouring a child, of the dukedom of Milan * "Analysis of Ornament," by Ralph N. Wornum. CREATURES IN ART 117 is of much interest. There are many stories as to the origin of this singular bearing. Some writers assign it to Otho Visconti, who led a body of Milanese in the train of Peter the Hermit, and at the crusades fought and killed in single combat the Saracen giant Volux, upon whose helmet was this device, which Otho afterwards assumed as his own. Such is the version adopted by Tasso, who enumerates Otho among the Christian warriors : *' Otho fierce, whose valour won the shield That bears a child and serpent on the field." Gerusa/emme Liberata^ cant. i. St. 55. (Hoole's translation.) From another legend we learn that when Count Boniface, Lord of Milan, went to the crusades, his child, born during his absence, was devoured in its cradle by a huge serpent which ravaged the country. On his return, Count Boniface went in search of the monster, and found it with a child in its mouth. He attacked and slew the creature, but at the cost of his own life. Hence it is said his posterity bore the serpent and child as their ensign. A third legend is referred to under Wyvern (which see). Menestrier says that the first Lords of Milan were called after their castle in Angleria, in Latin attguis, and that these are only the armes parlantes of their name.* Be this as it may, u Lo Squamoso Biscion " * That is, Vhconti is only a variation of Biscia equivalent to Anguis^ Italianised to Angleria. n8 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC (the scaly snake) was adopted by all the Visconti lords, and by their successors of the House of Sforza. "Sforza e Viscontei colubri." Orlando Furioso, cant. xiii. 63. And again in the same poem (cant. iii. 26. Hoole's translation) : " Hugo appears with him, his valiant son Who plants his conquering snakes in Milan's town." Dante also refers in " Purgatorio " to this celebrated device. The "three coiled snakes" which appear in the arms of Whitby Abbey, York- shire, really represent fossil am- monites^ which are very plentiful in the rocky promontories of that part of the English coast, and on that account were no doubt adopted in the arms of the Abbey, and afterwards of the town of Whitby. Arm, of Whitby Abbey. The arms ^ . ^^ ^^ snakes coilea or encircled two and one, or. Popular legend, however, ascribes their origin to the transformation of a multitude of snakes into stone by St. Hilda, an ancient Saxon princess. The legend is referred to by Sir Walter Scott in " Mar- mion " : CREATURES IN ART 119 " How of a thousand snakes each one Was changed into a coil of stone While Holy Hilda prayed." It is, however, more than likely that the arms sug- gested the legend of the miracle. The ancient myth of the deaf adder seems to have been a favourite illustration of the futility of un- welcome counsel. " What, art thou, like the adder, waxen deaf ? Be poisonous too." 2 King Henry VI. Act ii. sc. 2. " Pleasure and revenge have ears more deaf than adders To the voice of any true decision." Troilus and Cressida,.Act ii. sc. 2. " He flies me now nor more attends my pain Than the deaf adder heeds the charmer's strain." Orlando Furioso, cant, xxxii. 19. (Hoole's translation.) A serpent or adder stopping his ears, by some writers termed " an adder obturant his ear" from the Latin obturo, to shut or stop, is a very ancient idea. It is said that the asp or adder, to prevent his hearing unwelcome truths, puts one ear to the ground and stops the other with his tail, a device suggested by Psalm Iviii. 4, 5 : " They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear ; which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely." 120 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC Alessandro d'Alessandri (+1523), a lawyer of Naples, of extensive learning, and a member of the Neapolitan Academy, took for device a serpent stopping its ears, and the motto, " Ut prudentia vivam" ("That I may live wisely "), implying that as the serpent by this means refuses to hear the voice of the charmer, so the wise man imitates the prudence of the reptile and refuses to listen to the words of malice and slander. It- is said that the cerastes hides in sand that it may bite the horse's foot and get the rider thrown. In allusion to this belief, Jacob says, " Dan shall be ... an adder in the path, that his rider shall fall backward" (Gen. xlix. 17). Asp. According to Sir Gardiner Wilkinson, the ancient Egyptian kings wore the asp, the emblem of royalty, as an ornament on the forehead. It appears on the front of the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt- Many terms have been invented by the heralds to express the positions serpents may assume in arms. Berry's " Encyclopaedia of Heraldry " illustrates over thirty positions, the terms of blazon of which it is impossible to comprehend, and hardly worth the inquiry. Few of these terms are, however, met with in English heraldry. Two serpents erect in pale, their tails " nowed " (twisted or knotted) together, are figured in the arms of Caius College, Cambridge. In the words of the old grant, they are blazoned "gold, semied with CREATURES IN ART 121 flowers gentil, a sengreen (or houseleek) in chief, over the heads of two whole serpents in pale, their tails knit together (all in proper colour), resting upon a square marble stone vert, between a book sable, garnish 1 1 gul, buckled, or." Fruiterers' Company of London. On a mount in base vert, the tree of Paradise environed with the serpent between Adam and Eve, all proper. Motto : Arbor vitun in terris AN imaginary bird, described by ancient writers as in form like an eagle, but more beautiful in its plumage. Among the ancient classical writers it was an emblem of those existing in paradise, enjoying eternal youth and never-ending pleasure. Tacitus decribes the phoenix as a singular bird, consecrated to the sun, and distinguished by its rich appearance and variegated colours. Herodotus naively says : "I 172 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC never saw one, indeed, but in a picture, but if he is like his picture his plumage is partly golden and partly red." Philippe de Thaun says : "The phoenix lives five hundred years and a little more, when it will become young again and leave its old age." It was said to be sometimes seen in Egypt, and only one was believed to exist at a time. When it is advanced in age and its time of change is at hand, it hides itself away somewhere in Arabia, and makes itself a nest of the rarest spices, which, by the heat of the sun or other secret agency, and the fanning of the sacred bird's own wings, soon rises into flames and consumes it. Out of its ashes rises another with new life and vigour to pursue the same never-ending life and re-birth. Fum or Fung (the phoenix) is one of the four symbolical animals supposed to preside over the destinies of the Chinese Empire ; the sacred Ho-ho or phoenix also figures with the dragon largely in Japanese mythology, and bears a striking analogy to the bird of classic fame. It is fabled to have a miraculous existence, and is sent on earth for the performance of extraordinary works in the mani- festation of the Divinity and in the development of humanity and nature. It appears at different stages of the world's progress and in successive ages ; after the accomplishment of which it reascends to heaven to come down again at the commencement of a new era. From the pagans the Early Christians adopted the CREATURES IN ART 173 symbol, and with them its significance had reference to the resurrection and immortality. Like the pelican " in her piety," it was peculiarly an emblem of our Saviour in His resurrection. As the phoenix when old and wearied seeks the rays of the sun to consume its body, again to be revived in life and vigour, so the Christian, worn and exhausted by worldly labour and suffering, turns to the Son of Righteousness for regeneration and newness of life. Tertullian makes the phoenix an image of the resurrection. In corroboration of this it must be borne in mind that Jesus Christ, who died A.D. 34, is termed the phoenix by monastic writers. The Phoenix period or cycle is said to consist of 300 years. " The bird of wonder " is said to have appeared in Egypt five times : 1. In the reign of Sesostris, B.C. 866. 2. In the reign of Amasis, B.C. 566. 3. In the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphia, B.C. 266. 4. In the reign of Tiberius, 34 A.D. 5. In the reign of Constantine, 334 A.D. Tacitus in the " Annales" vi. 28, mentions the first three of these appearances. The Phoenix-tree is the palm. In Greek 0o/i {phoinix) means both phoenix and palm-tree. It is thus alluded to in Shakespeare : " Now will I believe . . . that in Arabia There is one tree, the phoenix throne one phoenix At this hour reigneth there." The Tempest y Act iii. sc. 3. 174 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC Pliny * gives minute particulars concerning the natural history of this rara avis in terris. But the ancient fable is most fully given by Ovid and trans- lated by Dryden. Ariosto, also, and many early writers refer to the wonderful creature with fullest faith in its reality. It is no wonder then, that it became a favourite emblem in an age when it was the fashion among persons of distinction to have an impress or device with its accompanying legend or motto. Many persons of historical importance em- ployed the phoenix to express in metaphor the idea they wished to convey regarding themselves. Thus we find the phoenix in flames painted for the device of Jeanne d'Arc, in the Gallery of the Palais Royal, with the motto : " Invito funere vivat " (" Her death itself will make her live "). Vittoria Colonna (+ J54?) tne beautiful and accomplished wife of the Marquis of Pescara, used the device of a phoenix on her medal. Mary Queen of Scots used the impress of her mother, Mary of Lorraine, a phoenix in flames, and the motto : " En ma fin est mon commencement.*' A phoenix in flames upon a castle was the badge of Queen Jane Seymour, the crest of the Seymours being a phoenix in flames issuing from a ducal coronet. Her son, Edward VI., added the motto, " Nascatur ut alter " (" That another may be born "), alluding to the nature of her death. She lies buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, with a Latin * Book x. ch. 2. CREATURES IN ART 175 epitaph by Bishop Godwin, which has been thus translated by his son Morgan : " Here a phoenix lieth, whose death To another phcenix gave birth. It is to be lamented much The world at once ne'er knew two such." Queen Elizabeth placed a phcenix upon her medals and tokens with her favourite motto : " Semper eadem " (" Always the same "), and sometimes with the motto " Sola phcenix omnis mundi " (" The sole phcenix of the whole world"); and on the other side, " Et Anglic gloria " (" And the glory of England"), with her portrait full-faced. By the poets of the time, Elizabeth was often compared to the phcenix. Sylvester, in his " Corona Dedicatoria," says : "As when the Arabian (only) bird doth burne Her aged bodie in sweet flames to death, Out of her cinders a new bird hath birth, On whom the beauties of the first return ; From spicy ashes of the sacred urne Of our dead phcenix (deare Elizabeth) A new true phcenix lively flourisheth." And Shakespeare, in the prophecy which he puts into the mouth ofCranmer at the baptism of the Princess Elizabeth, her great and glorious reign is fore- shadowed, and finally : "... as when The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phcenix, Her ashes new create another heir, As great in admiration as herself." 176 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC Shakespeare elsewhere uses the simile to denote a phoenix among women a phoenix, a paragon, unique, because alone of its kind : " If she be furnished with a mind so rare, She is alone the Arabian bird." Cymbeline y Act i. sc. 7. Many other heraldic mottoes have been associated with this celebrated device. The following are from "Historic Devices, Badges," &c., by Mrs. Bury Palliser : Eleanor, Queen of Francis I. of Austria : " Non est similis illi " (" There is none like her "). She afterwards changed her motto, either showing how much she was neglected, or to express her determination to remain single : " Unica semper avis " (" Always a solitary bird "). Bona of Savoy : " Sola facta solum deum sequor." Cardinal Trent : " Ut vivat " (" That it may live "). Linacre : " Vivat post funera virtus " (" Virtue survives death "). " De mi muerte ma vida" (" From my death my life"). " De mort b vie " (" From death to life "). " Et morte vitam protulit " (" And by death has pro- longed his life "). "Ex morte, immortalitas" ("Out of death, immortality"). " Murio y nacio " (" I die and am born "). " Ne pereat" (" That it should not perish "). " O mors, ero mors tua " ("O death, I shall be thy death "). " Se necat ut vivat " (" Slays himself that he may live "). " Trouva sol nei tormenti il suo gioire (" It finds alone its joy in its suffering "). CREATURES IN ART 177 " Vivre pour mourir, mourir pour vivre" ("Live to die, die to live "). " Uror, morior, orior " (" I am burnt, I die, I arise "). The phoenix in heraldry is never represented in other than in one position, rising from flames, that is, with expanded wings and enveloped in flames of fire in which it is being consumed. It is usually repre- sented exactly as an eagle in shape, but may be of any of the heraldic tinctures. The phoenix is of frequent use in heraldry, and borne by many families in the United Kingdom. A phoenix issuing from a ducal coronet is the crest of the Duke of Somerset. Linacre, founder of the College of Physicians, and honorary physician to four sovereigns has on his tomb in Westminster Abbey the device of the phoenix, with the motto, " Vivat post funera virtus " ("Virtue survives death "). From the association of this fabulous bird with alchemy, Paracelsus wrote concerning it, and several alchemists employed it to symbolise their vocation. It was adopted by the Apothecaries' Company as crest, and is a frequent sign over chemists' shops. A fhcenix in flames -proper, gorged with a mural coronet, is the allusive crest of the Fenwicks ; the motto over the crest is the cri de guerre, " A Fenwick ! a Fenwick ! " They were a family noted in border warfare. " The house of Percy," says Mrs. Bury Palliser, "ever ranked the Fenwicks among the most valiant of its retainers, and in border warfare the M 178 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC banner of the gorged phoenix in the burning flame always appeared with that of the silver crescent ot the Percys." The bird of paradise is interesting as having for a time been accepted as the veritable phoenix, a fact which has escaped Gibbon. That luxurious Emperor, Heliogabalus, having eaten, as he thought, of every known delicacy, bethought him one day of the fabled phoenix. What mattered it that only one bird existed at a time ; that one, the imperial gourmand must have, and was inconsolable that he had not thought of it before. The zeal of proconsuls was equal to the great occasion, and from all parts of the earth came strange and wondrous birds, each affirmed with confidence to be " the sacred solitary bird, that knows no second, knows no third.*' The canker- worm of doubt remains ! At last, one day there was brought to Rome from the far islands of the Eastern seas a bird, the like of which for the glory of its plumage had never been seen out of paradise, the veritable phoenix, " Bird of the Sun ! " The sight of the magnificent creature carried conviction with it. Heliogabalus ate in faith, and went to his fathers contented. CREATURES IN ART 179 A Harpy, wings disclosed. " Of monsters all, most monstrous this ; no greater wrath God sends 'mongst men ; it comes from depth of pitchy hell : And virgin's face, but womb Ufa gulf unsatiate hath, Her hands are griping claws, her colour pale and fell" VIRGIL. " Thou art like the harpy y Which to betray, doth wear an angel's face, Seize with an eagle's talons. 1 ' "Pericles Prince of Tyre," Act iv. sc. 4. A POETICAL monstrosity of classical origin, described as " winged creatures having the head and breasts of a woman, and the body and limbs of a vulture ; very fierce and loathsome, living in an atmosphere of filth and stench, and contaminating anything which they i8o FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC come near. Pale and emaciated, they were continu- ally tormented with insatiable hunger." They are best known from the story of the Argonauts, where they appear as the tormentors of the blind king Phineus, whose table they robbed of its viands, which they either devoured or spoiled. They were regarded by the ancients as ministers of sudden death. In Miss Millington's admirable book, " Her- aldry in History, Poetry and Romance," it is stated that unlike the generality of such mythical beings, the harpies appear originally, as in Homer's " Odyssey," as persons instead of personations ; while later authors for the most part reduced them to whirlwinds and whirlpools. Homer mentions but one harpy. Hesiod gives two, later writers three. The names indicate that these monsters were imper- sonations of whirlwinds and storms. The names were : Ocypeta (rapid), Celeno (blackness), Aello (storm). " I will ... do any embassage . . . rather than Hold three words' conference with this harpy." Much Ado About Nothing, Act ii. sc I. The Harpy, Greek sculpture. CREATURES IN ART 181 " Bravely the figure of this harpy hast thou Performed, my Ariel ; a grace it had devouring." Tempest, Act iii. sc. 3. Azure, a harpy with her wings dis- closed, her ha irflotant, or, armed of 'the same. This coat existed in Hun t i n gdon Church in Guil- lam's time. The arms of the City of Nuremberg are : azure, a harpy displayed armed, crined and crowned, or. It occurs as the city device as early as 1243. In German heraldry it is termed jung- fraundler. A creature very simi- lar to the harpy (a combination of several badges), was one of the favourite devices of Richard III., viz., a falcon with the head of a maiden holding the white rose of York. Shield of Nuremberg. A Harpy displayed and crowned. German version. 1 82 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC 3$eraltuc licltcan " Then sayd the pel lye one When my byrats be slayne With my bloude I them reuyue (revive) Scrypture doth record, The same dyd our Lord, And rose from deth to lyut." SKELTON, " Armory of Birds." THE character ascribed to the pelican is nearly as fabulous as that of the phoenix. From a clumsy, gluttonous, piscivorous water-bird, it was by the growth of legends trans- formed into a mystic emblem of Christ, whom Dante terms was added by Henry II. on his marriage with Eleanor of Aquitain, a lion being also the arms of that province. It has been keenly contested whether the three animals in the royal shield of England were lions or leopards. The subject has been ably treated by Mr. J. R. Planche in the "Pursuivant of Arms," and also by Charles Boutell, M. A., in several of his works. The case seems to stand thus : In ancient coats the name is believed to be given to the lion in certain attitudes. The French heralds call a lion passant a leopard. Thus Bertrand du Guesclin, the famous Breton, declared that men " devoyent bien honorer la noble fleur-de-lis, qu'ils ne faissaient le flon Ii6pard," and Napoleon, strongly to excite the valour of his soldiers, exclaimed, " Let us drive these leopards (the English) into the sea ! " "Lion Leoparde" is the term used in French 196 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC heraldry for the lion when borne passant guardant as in the royal shield of England. When rampant they call it " leoparde lionne," as if in this attitude the leopard assumed the position and bold character of the lion. The attitude passant guardant thus denoted the peculiar stealthy tread and cat-like watchfulness of the leopard and panther. The Emperor Frederick II. (1235) sent King Henry of England three leopards as a present in token of his armorial bearings. It is a great argument in favour of the substitu- tion of the lion for the leopard, Mr. Boutell thinks, that the latter should have almost disappeared from English heraldry, the face and head only retaining their place in modern coats. " A leopard's head" should show part of the neck, couped or erased, as the case may be ; guardant, affronte or front face, is always to be understood of the leopard, and never in profile. " A leopard* s face" shows no part of the neck, and in conjunction with the term " jessant-de-lis" is used with respect to a leopard's face having b fleur- de-lis passing through it. The insignia of the See of Hereford is : gules three leopards' heads reversed jessant-de-lis, or. In heraldry the leopard represents those brave and A Leopard's Face, jessant-de-lis. CREATURES IN ART 197 generous warriors who have performed some bold enterprise with force, courage, promptitude, and activity. Thus Shakespeare alludes to the character of the bold soldier " Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth." In Christian Art the leopard is employed to repre- sent that beast spoken of in the Apocalypse, with seven heads and ten horns. Six of the heads are nimbed, but the seventh, being " wounded to death," has lost its power, and consequently has no nimbus. Three leopards passant guardant or, pelletee, appear on the arms of the Marquis of Downshire. It is also the sinister supporter. The supporters of the town of Aberdeen arc leopards. Sable three leopards rampant argent spotted sable are given as the arms of Lynch. It is, however, probable that the lynx was the animal originally blazoned as " arms parlantes " for the name. Ermine on a cross patonce sable, a leopard's head, issuing out of a ducal coronet or, crest, a demi-leopard erecty proper. Dickens. A leopards face, breaking with his mouth a sword, is the crest of Disne. The supporters of the Earl of Northesk are two leopards reguardant. 198 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC The leopard or panther, says Dr. P. M. Duncan, F.R.S.,* was the only one of the greater feline animals, except the lion and tiger, which seems to have been known to the ancients. It is always repre- sented as drawing the chariot of Bacchus, and the forlorn Ariadne is sculptured as riding on one of the spotted steeds of her divine lover. The panther was also constantly used in the barbarous sports of the amphitheatre, and, in common with the lion and tiger, has been both executioner and grave to many a bold-hearted martyr. The leopard's skin was a favourite mantle in the olden times in Greece. In the " Iliad," Homer, speaking of Menelaus, says : " With a pard's spotted hide his shoulders broad He mantled o'er," and the leopard, or panther, is given in the " Odyssey " as one of the forms assumed by Proteus, " the Ancient of the Deep." A curious ancient superstition about the leopard is embodied in its name. It was thought not to be actually the same animal as the panther or pard, but to be a mongrel or hybrid between the male pard and the lioness, hence it was called the lion-panther, or kopardus. This error, as Archbishop Trench tells us, ** has lasted into modern times " ; thus Fuller : " Leopards and mules are properly no creatures." Some writers, says Boutell, describe the leopard as * "Cassell's Natural History." CREATURES IN ART 199 the issue of the pard and lioness, and they assign the unproductiveness of such hybrids as a reason for its frequent adoption in the arms of abbots and abbesses. " Mulus et abbates sunt in honore pares." The leopard and panther are now acknowledged to be but slight varieties of the same species. In Wood's " Natural History " some slight difference is mentioned as to the number of spots. " The panther is fawn-coloured above, white underneath, with six or seven ranges of patches resembling rosettes that is to say, each composed of an assemblage of five or six simple black spots. It very much re- sembles the leopard, which inhabits the same region (but has ten rows of spots which are of smaller size), It is the wildest of the feline tribe, always retaining its fierce aspect and perpetual growl." The Panther " Incensed" " The panther, knowing that his spotted hide Doth please all beasts, but that his looks them fray, Within a bush his dreadful head doth hide To let them gaze, while he on them doth prey." SPENSER, Sonnet. THIS beast, like the leopard, has been the object of much mistaken or fictitious history. Pliny, who is responsible for many of the errors in natural history since his time, says of the panther : " It is said that all four-footed beasts are wonderfully 200 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC delighted and enticed by the smell of panthers ; but their hideous looke and crabbed countenance which they bewray so soon as they show their heads skareth them as much again : therefore their manner is to hide their heads, and when they have trained other beasts within their reach by their sweet savour, they fall upon them and worry them." * And again, Sir William Segar, Garter King-of-Arms, following the same credulous historian, says : " The panther is admired of all other beasts for the beauty of his skyn, being spotted with variable colours, and beloved of them for the sweetness of his breath that streameth forth of his nostrils and ears like smoke which our paynters mistaking, corruptly do make fire."t It is, however, more probable that the creature was represented emitting flame and smoke to denote and give characteristic expression to the native savagery of the brute when irritated. If one can imagine the terror inspired by remorseless and unpitying fury, * Bk. viii. ch. 17. f Harl. MSS. 6085. {Panther incensed. CREATURES IN ART 201 sudden and impetuous, we see its object fairly typi- fied in the panther " incensed." The idea of fire and smoke darting from its mouth, eyes and ears was doubtless suggested by that habit peculiar to the feline race, observable even in the domestic cat, to " spit fire " and " swear " when rudely attacked, and as an emblem in this sense it is extremely well indi- cative of sudden fury. Guillam says : u Some authors are of opinion that there are no panthers bred in Europe ; but in Africa, Lybia and Mauritania they are plentiful. The panther is a beast of a beautiful aspect, by reason of the manifold variety of his divers coloured spots wherewith his body is overspread. As a lion doth in most things resemble the nature of a man, so, after a sort, doth the panther of a woman ; for it is a beautiful beast, and fierce, yet very loving to their young ones, and will defend them with the hazard of their own lives ; and if they miss them, they bewail their loss with loud and miserable howling." The Lancastrian badge "the panther," says Planch, " which is attributed by Sir William Segar to Henry VI. and blazoned passant guardant argent spotted of all colours with vapour issuant from her mouth and ears ; but there is no authority quoted for it, and there is no example extant, the only collateral evidence being the supporters of the Somerset Dukes of Beaufort, who are supposed to have used it as a token of their Lancastrian descent." The dexter 202 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC supporter of the Duke of Beaufort thus is blazoned : 'Dexter, a -panther argent, semee of torteaux, hurts and pomies alternately ', flames issuant from the mouth and ears proper, gorged with a plain collar, and chained, or. The heraldic panther, or as it is more frequently termed, a panther incensed, is always borne guardant, i.e., full-faced ; and " incensed," that is to say, it is depicted with flames and smoke issuing from its mouth and ears. Its coat is spotted of various tinc- tures as the blazon may state. Odet de Foix, Sieur de Lautrec, Marshal of France (+1528) being considered a person of fierce appear- ance, took for device a panther, with the motto "Allicit ulterius" (" He entices further"), alluding to the attractive power of that animal notwithstanding its fierce exterior, " an evidence," remarks a modern writer, "that he had as much vanity as ambition." The town of Lucca for arms bears a panther : " La pantera, che Lucca abbraccia e onora." Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, surnamed the Great (+1518), a celebrated Italian soldier, bore a panther on his standard, with the motto, " Mens sibi conscia facti " (" The mind conscious to itself of the deed "), the panther signifying foresight (providence) from the number of eyes in his coat. Others said he wished to imply that he knew how to manage for himself in the various changes of his capricious fortune.* * Hist. Dev. 260. CREATURES IN ART 203 The Lynx Felis Lynx, or mountain cat, is found in the northern parts of Europe, Asia and America, and climbs the highest trees. He preys on squirrels, deer, hares, &c. He is fond of blood and kills great numbers of animals to satisfy his unconquerable thirst. He is smaller than the panther, about three feet and a half in length, his tail is much shorter and black at the extremity. His ears are erect with a pencil of black hair at the tips. The fur is long and thick, the upper part of the body is a pale grey, the under parts white. The sight of the lynx is said to be so piercing that the ancients attributed to it the faculty of seeing through stone walls : it may, however, be asserted with truth that it distinguishes its prey at a greater distance than any other carnivorous quadruped. On this account it is frequently employed in heraldry, 204 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC symbolising watchfulness, keenness of vision, and also the ability to profit by it. Lynx-eyed, " oculis lynceis," originally referred to Lynceus, the argonaut, who was famed for the keen- ness of his vision ; then it was transferred to the lynx and gave rise to the fable that it could see through a wall (notes to " Philobiblon," by E. C. Thomas). The Accademia de Lincei, founded in Rome in 1603, with the object of encouraging a taste for natural history, adopted the name and device of the lynx because the members should have the eyes of a lynx to penetrate the secrets of nature. Galileo, Fabio Colonna, and Gianbattista Porta were among the members of the academy, the latter philosopher and mathematician, who was the inventor of the camera obscura, bore the device of the academy, the lynx, and the motto " Aspicit et inspicit " (" Looks at and looks into "). Charles IV. of Luxemburg, Emperor of Germany, adopted the lynx for his impress, with the motto, " Nullius pavit occursum " (" He fears not meeting with any one "). THE LIZARD LYNX is an animal of the lynx or wild cat kind of a dark brown colour, spotted black ; the ears and tail are short. They are frequent in the woods of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, where they are usually termed lizards. CREATURES IN ART 205 Cat-a-Mountain saliant, collared and lined. iren " Mermaid shapes that still the waves with ecstasies of song" T. SWAN, " The World within the Ocean." " And fair Ligeas golden comb, Wherewith she sits on diamond rocks, Sleeking her soft alluring hair" MILTON, " Comus." THIS fabulous creature of the sea, well known in ancient and modern times as the frequent theme of poets and the subject of number- less legends, has from a very early date been a favourite de- vice. She :. is usually represented in heraldry as having the upper part the head and body of a beautiful young woman, holding a comb and glass in her hands, the lower part ending in a fish. Ellis (Glasfryn, Merioneth). Argent, a mer- maid gules, crined or, holding a mirror in her right hand and a comb in her left, gold. Crest, a mermaid as in the arms. Motto, " Worth ein ffrwythau yn hadna byddir." Another family of the same name, settled Crest of Ellis. 244 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC in Lancashire, bears the colours reversed, viz., gules, a mermaid argent. SIR JOSIAH MASON. CREST, a mermaid, per fess wavy argent and azure, the upper part guttee de larmes, in the dexter hand a comb, and in the sinister a mirror, frame and hair sable. Balfour of Burleigh. On a rock, a mermaid proper, holding in her dexter hand an otter s head erased sable, and in the sinister a swan s head, erased proper. The supporters of Baron Balfour are an otter and a swan, which will account for the heads ap- pearing in the hands of the mermaid, instead of the traditionary comb and mirror. In some other instances the like occurs, as in the mermaid crest of Cussack, the mermaid sable crined or, holds in dextet hand a sword, and in the sinister a sceptre. Sir George Francis Bonham, Bart. Crest, a mer- maid holding in dexter hand a wreath of coral, and in the sinister a mirror. Wallop, Earl of Portsmouth, bears for crest a mermaid proper, with her usual accompaniments, the comb and mirror. Another family of the same name and bearing the same arms has for crest a mermdid with two tails extended proper, hair gold, holding her tails in her hands extended wide. CREATURES IN ART 245 In foreign heraldry the mermaid is generally termed Melusine, and represented with two fishy extremities. Die Ritter, of Nuremberg bears per f ess sable and or, a mermaid holding her two tails, vested gules, crowned or. The Austrian family of Estenberger bears for crest a mermaid without arms, and having wings. A mermaid was the de- vice of Sir William de Brivere, who died in 1226. It is the badge of the Ber- keleys ; in the monumental brass of Lord Berkeley, at Wolton-under-Edge, 1392 A.D., he bears a collar of mermaids over his camail. The Black Prince, in his will, mentions certain devices that he appears to have used as badges ; among the rest we find " Mermaids of the Sea." It was the dexter supporter in the coat- of-arms of Sir Walter Scott, and the crest of Lord Byron. The supporters of Viscount Boyne are mer- maids. Skiffington, Viscount Marsereene, the Earl of Caledon, the Earl of Howth, Viscount Hood, and many other titled families bear it as crest or sup- porters. It is also borne by many untitled families. The arms of the princely house of Lusignan, kings of Cyprus and Jerusalem, "Une sirene dans une cuve," were founded on a curious mediaeval Die Ritter, of Nuremberg. 246 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC legend of a mermaid or siren, termed Melusine, a fairy, condemned by some spell to become on one day of the week only, half woman, half serpent. The Knight Roimoudin de Forez, meeting her in the forest by chance, became enamoured and married her, and she became the mother of several children, but she carefully avoided seeing her husband on the day of her change ; one day, however, his curiosity led him to watch her, which led to the spell being broken, and the soul with which by her union with a Christian she hoped to have been endowed, was lost to her for ever. This interesting myth is fully examined in Baring Gould's " Curious Myths of the Middle Ages." The mermaid is represented as the upper half of a beautiful maiden joined to the lower half of a fish, and usually holding a comb in the right hand and a mirror in the left ; these articles of the toilet have reference to the old fable that always when observed by man mermaids are found to be resting upon the waves, combing out their long yellow hair, while admiring themselves in the glass : they are also ac- credited with wondrous vocal powers, to hear which was death to the listener. It was long believed such creatures really did exist, and had from time to time been seen and spoken with ; many, we are told, have fatally listened to " the mermaid's charmed speech," and have blindly followed the beguiling, deluding creature to her haunts beneath the wave, as did Sidratta, who, falling in the Ganges,became enamoured CREATURES IN ART 247 of one of these beautiful beings, the Upsaras, the swan-maidens of the Vedas. All countries seem to have invented some fairy- like story of the waters. The Finnish Nakki play their silver harps o' nights ; the water imp or Nixey of Germany sings and dances on land with mortals, and the " Davy " (Deva), whose " locker " is at the bottom of the deep blue sea, are all poetical concep- tions of the same description. The same may be said of the Merminne of the Netherlands, the White Lady of Scotland and the Silver Swan of the German legend, that drew the ship in which the Knight Lohengrin departed never to return. In the " Bestiary " of Philip de Thaun he tells us that " Siren lives in the sea, it sings at the approach of a storm and weeps in fine weather ; such is its nature : and it has the make of a woman down to the waist, and the feet of a falcon, and the tail of a fish. When it will divert itself, then it sings loud and clear ; if then the steersman who navigates the sea hears it, he forgets his ship and immediately falls asleep." The legendary mermaid still retains her place in popular legends of our sea coasts, especially in the remoter parts of our islands. The stories of the Mirrow, or Irish fairy, hold a prominent place among Crofton Croker's u Fairy Legends of the South of Ireland." Round the shores of Lough Neagh old people still tell how, in the days of their youth, mermaids were supposed to reside in the water, and 248 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC with what fear and trepidation they would, on their homeward way in the twilight, approach some lonely and sequestered spot on the shore, expecting every moment to be captured and carried off by the witching mere-maidens. On the Continent the same idea prevails. Among the numerous legends of the Rhine many have reference to the same fabled creature. As we know, mariners in all ages have delighted in tales of the marvellous, and in less enlightened times than the present, they were not unlikely to have found many willing listeners and sound believers. Early voyagers tell wonderful stories of these " fish- women," or " women-fish," as they termed them. The ancient chronicles indeed teem with tales of the capture of "mermaids," "mermen," and similar strange creatures ; stories which now only excite a smile from their utter absurdity. So late as 1857 there appeared an article in the Shipping Gazette, under intelligence of June 4, signed by some Scotch sailors, and describing an object seen off the North British coast " in the shape of a woman, with full breast, dark complexion, comely face " and the rest. It is probable that some variety of the seal family may be the prototype of this interesting myth. The myth of the mermaid is, however, of far older date ; Homer and later Greek and Roman poets have said and sung a great deal about it. CREATURES IN ART 249 Sirens of (Classic J>fjologg THE SIRENS (Greek, entanglers) enticed seamen by the sweetness of their song to such a degree that the listeners forgot everything and died of hunger. Their names were, Parthenope, Ligea, and Leucosia. Parthenope, the ancient name of Neapolis (Naples) Ulysses and the Sirens. Flaxman's " Odyssey." was derived from one of the sirens, whose tomb was shown in Strabo's time. Poetic legend states that she threw herself into the sea out of love for Ulysses, and was cast up on the Bay of Naples. The celebrated Parthenon at Athens, the beautiful temple of Pallas Athenae, so richly adorned with sculptures, likewise derives its name from this source. 250 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC Dante interviews the siren in " Purgatorio," xix. 7-33- Flaxman, in his designs illustrating the * c Odyssey," represents the sirens as beautiful young women seated on the strand and singing. In the illustration from an ancient Greek vase Ulysses and the Sirens. From a painting on a Greek vase. gives a Grecian rendering of the story, and repre- sents the Sirens as birds with heads of maidens. The Sirens are best known from the story that Odysseus succeeded in passing them with his companions without being seduced by their song. He had the prudence to stop the ears of his com- panions with wax and to have himself bound to the mast. Only two are mentioned in Homer, but three or four are mentioned in later times and introduced into various legends. Demeter (Ceres') CREATURES IN ART 251 is said to have changed their bodies into those of birds, because they refused to go to the help of their companion, Persephone, when she was carried off by Pluto. " They are represented in Greek art like the harpies, as young women with the wings and feet of birds. Sometimes they appear altogether like birds, only with human faces; at other times with the bodies of women, in which case they generally hold instruments of music in their hands. As their songs are death to those subdued by them they are often depicted on tombs as spirits of death.'* By the fables of the Sirens is represented the en- snaring nature of vain and deceitful pleasures, which sing and soothe to sleep, and never fail to destroy those who succumb to their beguiling influence. Spenser, in the " Faerie Queen," describes a place "where many mermaids haunt, making false melodies," by which the knight Guyon makes a somewhat " perilous passage." There were five sisters that had been fair ladies, till too confident in their skill in music they had ventured to contend with the Muses, when they were transformed in their lower extremities to fish : " But the upper half their hue retained still, And their sweet skill in wonted melody ; Which ever after they abused to ill To allure weak travellers, whom gotten they did kill." Book ii. cant. cxii. Shakespeare charmingly pictures Oberon in the moonlight, fascinated by the graceful form and the 252 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC melodious strains of the mermaid half reclining on the back of the dolphin : " OBERON : . . . Thou rememberest Since once I sat upon a promontory, And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath That the rude sea grew civil at her song And certain stars shot madly from their spheres To hear the sea-maid's music." Commentators of Shakespeare find in this passage (and subsequent parts) certain references to Mary Queen of Scots, which they consider beyond dispute. She was frequently referred to in the poetry of the time under this title. She was married to the Dauphin (or Dolphin) of France. The rude sea means the Scotch rebels, and the shooting stars referred to were the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, who, with others of lesser note, forgot their allegiance to Elizabeth out of love to Mary. " Few eyes," says Sir Thomas Browne, " have escaped the picture of a mermaid with a woman's head above and a fish's extremity below." In those old days when reading and writing were rare accom- plishments, pictured signboards served to give "a local habitation and a name " to hostelries and other places of business and resort. Among the most celebrated of the old London taverns bearing this sign,* that in Bread Street stands foremost. * The sign was also used by printers : John Rastall, brother-in-law to Sir Thomas More, " emprynted in the CREATURES IN ART 253 We find this " Mermayde " mentioned as early as 1464. In 1603 Sir Walter Raleigh established a literary club in this house, and here Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and the choice intellectual spirits of the time used to meet, and there took place those wit combats which Beaumont has commemorated and Fuller described. It is frequently alluded to by Beaumont and Fletcher in their comedies, but best known is that quotation from a letter of Beaumont to Ben Jonson : " What things have we seen Done at the Mermaid ? heard words that have been So nimble and so full of subtle flame, As if that any one from whence they came Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest, And had resolved to live a fool the rest Of his dull life ; then when there had been thrown Wit able enough to justify the town For three days past ; wit that might warrant be For the whole city to talk foolishly, Till that were cancell'd ; and when that was gone, We left an air behind us, which alone Was able to make the next two companies (Right witty, though but downright fools) more wise." Cheapesyde at the Sygne of the Mermayde ; next to Fowls- gate in 1572." Henry Binnemann, the Queen's printer, dedicated a work to Sir Thomas Gresham, in 1576, at the sign of the Mermaid, Knightrider Street. A representation of the creature was generally prefixed to his books. " History of Sign-boards," p. 227. 254 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC 2Ti)e Holpljin of Hegentr antr of "... his delights Were dolphin-like ; they showed his back above The element they lived in." "Anthony and Cleopatra," Act v. sc. z. As the Lion is the king of beasts, the Eagle the king of birds, so in similar heraldic sense the Dolphin is king of fishes. His position in legend is probably due to his being one of the biggest and boldest creatures of the sea that passed the Pillars of Hercules into the Mediterranean Sea. Pliny (Book ix. ch. 8) calls it " The swiftest of all other living creatures whatsoever, and not of sea fish only, is the dolphin ; quicker than any fowle, swifter than the arrow shot from a bow." The dolphin, of which there are several varieties, CREATURES IN ART 255 enjoys a pretty wide geographical distribution, being found in the Arctic seas, the Atlantic Ocean, and indeed of all seas. It was well known to the ancients and furnished the theme of many a fabulous story. The common dolphin (Delphinus Delphis) the true hieros ichthus, is only rarely met with on the British coast. Its length is usually seven or eight feet, though some specimens have The Dolphin, been found to measure ten feet. Its back is almost straight, or only slightly elevated ; its colour is dusky black above and whitish beneath. Its pectorals or flappers, which are placed low in the sides, are well developed, and a dorsal fin, which is somewhat short, is much elevated. Its tail is broad and notched in the centre and ex- panded horizontally not vertically as in most other fishes by the help of which it makes its peculiar leaps over the surface of the water and at the same time takes its breath. Unlike its near relatives the porpoises, who haunt the coast, dolphins live far out at sea, and are gene- rally mistaken for porpoises. The long-snouted dolphin feeds on pelagic fishes. The short-nosed porpoise likes salmon and mackerel, robs the fisher- men's nets, and even burrows in the sand in search of odds and ends. The dolphin is the sea-goose. 256 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC The porpoise is the sea-pig ; he is the porc-poisson, the porc-pois, or sea-hog. The convex snout of the dolphin is separated from the forehead by a deep furrow ; the muzzle is greatly extended, compressed, and much attenuated especially towards the apex, where it terminates in a rather sharp-pointed beak. The French name bee d'oie, from the great projection of its nose or beak, has led to its adoption in the arms of English families of the name of Beck. The dolphin is an elegant and swift swimmer, and capable of overtaking the swiftest of the finny tribe. Because the creature is noted for its swiftness it has been adopted in the arms of Fleet. The dolphin is able to hold his own against nearly all others of his size and weight, and even some of the larger cetaceans only come off" second best in an encounter with the dolphin. He is voracious, glut- tonous, and ever on the look out for something to turn up, hunting his prey with great persistency and devouring it with avidity. He has been not inaptly styled " the plunderer of the deep." The destructive character of the dolphin amongst the various tribes of fish is not lessened when we examine its formidable jaws studded with an immense number of interlocking teeth. Notwithstanding its rapacious habits and the variety of its diet it was in England formerly regarded as a royal fish, and its flesh held in high estimation. Old chroniclers have frequent entries of dolphins being caught in the Thames, thus : " 3 Henry V. Seven dolphins came CREATURES IN ART 257 up the Thames, whereof four were taken." " I4th Richard II. On Christmas Day one was taken at London Bridge, being ten feet long, and a monstrous grown fish." (Delalune's " Present State of London," 1 68 1.) The early fathers of the Church deemed " all fish that swam in the sea " ; the dolphin was therefore eaten in Lent. He is, however, a mammal, not a fish, and though an air-breathing creature he lives and dies in the ocean. But one is brought forth at a birth, and between the old and young of their kind, as in the case of all marine animals, a strong affection exists. Travellers' tales are notoriously hard of belief, and must be taken cum grano salts. We learn from Sir Thomas Herbert, an early voyager, that when he was on the coast of Sanquehar, a large kingdom on the east side of the Cape of Good Hope, he " saw there great numbers of dolphins," of which he says : " They much affect the company of men, and are nourished like men ; they are always constant to their mates, tenderly affected to their parents, feeding and defending them against hungry fishes when they are old," and much more information equally as- tonishing. A story is related of a man who once went to a mufti and asked him whether the flesh of the sea-pig (the dolphin) was lawful food. Without any hesitation the mufti declared that pig's flesh was unlawful at all times and under all circumstances. Some time after another person submitted the question to the same authority, whether the ^,6 of the sea, called the sea- R 258 FICTITIOUS AND SYMBOLIC pig, was lawful food. The mufti replied : " Fish is lawful food by whatever name it may be called.' 1 CLASSIC FABLE and MEDIAEVAL LEGEND have shed a halo of romantic interest around the dolphin which cleaves to it even to the present hour ; the rare event of a dolphin being caught in British waters revives with a thrill all the old-world stories and his- toric associations of this famous fish as if it were a veritable relic of the golden age. The dolphin of fact we have found to be quite a different creature from what he is pictured by the ancients. The mariner may be engulfed by " the yawning, dashing, furious sea," but no generous dolphin now watches with tender eye, solicitous for his safety, nor offers his ready back to speed him to the shore. The dolphin of our modern poets and sailors the swift swimmer that leaps after the flying-fish and frolics in front of the vessel's prow until he is caught by the glittering tin is the Coryph