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FIFTEENTH-CENTURY SHIELD 
 (Hewitt's Ancient Arms and Armour^ vol. ii, p. 496). 
 
 See piige 60. 
 
The dates of 
 
 Variously-shaped SHIELDS. 
 
 WITH COINCIDENT DATES 
 
 AND EXAMPLES. 
 
 FInlarged 
 FROM A Paper read before 
 THE Historic Society of 
 Lancashire and Cheshire. 
 
 ' AveSe^Oq fJL€V yap aoTTri?. 
 
 (Herod, vi. 124.^ 
 
 BY 
 
 George Grazebrook, f.s.a. 
 
 LIVERPOOL: . 
 
 PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION. 
 1890. 
 

 PREFACE 
 
 In venturing to place before the public this little 
 work — which takes up a line of enquiry never before 
 attempted, — I would solicit criticism, not of that slashing 
 condemnatory kind which destroys a statement without 
 pointing out its correction ; — that would only break my 
 head, and make no one the wiser ! — but I hope that 
 antiquaries who have more knowledge than I, may, when 
 pointing out errors, also explain what such statements 
 ought to be, and give exact references in proof. 
 
 With the help of such criticism (and the more severe, 
 the more valuable it will be) I trust that another perfected 
 issue, by myself, or by some other more qualified writer, 
 may eventually appear as a handbook — most useful to 
 the student, the antiquary, and the traveller. 
 
 It is now a subject for much regret to all of us that 
 the great knowledge of seals (the chief source of evidence 
 as to ancient shields) acquired by the late IVIr. Albert 
 Way, F.S. A., and by the late Mr. Charles Spencer Perceval, 
 F.S.A., has passed away with them, never having been 
 recorded ; and it seems very desirable that a classified 
 body of such knowledge should be drawn up and avail- 
 able — enabling us to date with some certainty (within the 
 limit of a few years) seals pendant to undated charters, 
 stone carvings on ancient buildings, and illustrations in 
 MSS., which are now labelled ^' circay 
 
 317 
 
iv Preface. 
 
 In the course of my researches I have noticed a number 
 of cases where incorrect dates have been supposed, — ?ind 
 from some of these deductions have been drawn, which 
 are consequently all wrong. 
 
 In the following treatise each century from the eleventh 
 to the fifteenth is separately dealt with ; after that date 
 the nomenclature of shields devised by my friend Mr. 
 J. Paul Rylands, F.S.A., is followed, and the earliest and 
 latest examples found of each shape adduced, — thtis 
 showing the range of time when that variety was most 
 commonly in use. References are given for every 
 statement. 
 
 Mantlings, torces, wreaths, palm branches, and other 
 adjuncts are discussed under their several headings— with 
 descriptions and dates of any varieties found. 
 
 In conclusion a concise index is given, which, it is 
 hoped, sufficiently focuses the whole book for ready 
 reference. 
 
AN ATTEMPT TO CLASSIFY AND DATE 
 THE VARIOUS SHAPES FOUND IN 
 HERALDIC SHIELDS— PRINCIPALLY 
 IN ENGLAND, WITH INCIDENTAL 
 DATINGS.* 
 
 IT seems necessary, by way of introduction, to 
 say a few words on the circular convex shields 
 used from very early times by our Saxon and 
 Norman ancestors. These were of wood, with a 
 central boss of bronze, and were sometimes of 
 very large size ; frequently, if we may judge from 
 contemporaneous illuminations, as much as four 
 feet in diameter. Across the inside of the boss 
 a handle was fixed, and the shields, which were 
 thus held out almost at arm's length, as represented 
 
 * I have to acknowledge the kind permission to use the following 
 illustrations — by Messrs. Virtue and Co., four blocks from Cuits' Scenes aftd 
 Characters of the Middle Ages, 1872 ; by Messrs. Mitchell and Hughes, 
 six blocks from Dr. Jackson Howard's Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica ; 
 by Messrs. Nichols and Son, sixteen blocks from The Herald and Genealogist^ 
 Collectanea Genealogica et Heraldica, The Topographer and Genealogist, and 
 The Visitation of Huntingdon, 1613 [Camden Society] ; by Messrs. Parker, 
 eight blocks from Hewitt's Ancient Anns and Armour and The ArchcBological 
 Jonrnal, vol. iv ; by the Society of Antiquaries, eight blocks published in 
 their Proceedings ; and by the Royal Archaeological Institute, one block from 
 The ArchcBological Journal^ vol. xi. 
 
2 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 in many ancient MSS., must have been most 
 cumbersome. It is hard to see how the sword 
 or lance could have been conveniently used. The 
 round shape must have interfered greatly with the 
 view^ of one's opponent, and a bungler would 
 inevitably slice pieces from off his own shield 
 while attacking his enemy. Moreover, such shields 
 must have been lightly made : we know exactly 
 how the bosses were fastened with rivets through 
 the shield, for they are constantly found in Anglo- 
 Saxon grave mounds, and the wood is thus known 
 to have been of some thickness. But we can 
 obtain from contemporary writings many more 
 particulars. 
 
 By the laws of Gula [said to have been esta- 
 blished by Hacon the Good, who died 963] any 
 possessor of six marks was required to furnish 
 himself with a red shield, of two boards in thick- 
 ness, a spear, and an axe or a sword. 
 
 In the history of the same king [Heiniskringla, 
 vol. i, p. 155] he is thus described : '' he put on 
 '^ his tunic of mail (brynio), girded round him his 
 " sword called quern-bit [i.e.^ millstone-biter], and 
 " set on his head his gilded helmet. He took a 
 "spear in his hand, and hung his shield by his 
 ''sider 
 
 Again, in the same book [Heimskringla^ ii, 352], 
 in the description of the Battle of Sticklastad, 
 where Olaf King of Norway, called ''the Saint," 
 was slain 1030, the monarch is said to have worn 
 a golden helmet, a white shield, a golden hilted 
 and exceedingly sharp sword, and a tunic of ringed 
 mail C' hringa brynio "). 
 
 Again, in the Edda Gunnar one of the Reguli of 
 Germany says, " My helmet and my white shield 
 " come from the Hall of Kiars." 
 
 These quotations are hardly sufficient evidence 
 of it perhaps, but it seems as if in the tenth 
 
Saxon times. 3 
 
 century white shields were borne by leaders and 
 red ones by the common soldiers, — every one who 
 possessed six marks. 
 
 Supplementing these and completing our descrip- 
 tion, Saxon poetry tells us that the wood was 
 by preference the lime tree. I need not give 
 quotations ; they will be found in the several 
 works on ancient arms and armour. Beowulf 
 [line 5215] describes how Wigluf *' seized his 
 '' shield — the yellow linden wood." Again, these 
 lines occur [Poem of Judith, Thorpe's Analecta^ 
 
 P- 137] '— 
 
 " The warriors marched 
 " The chieftains to the war 
 " Protected with targets, 
 " With arched Unden shields." 
 
 It ^eems almost as if linden trees were cultivated 
 with this view, for the Saxon Chronicle, under 
 anno 937, tells us how King Athelstan and his 
 heroes 
 
 " the board walls clove, 
 " And hewed the war lindens." 
 
 But certainly on one occasion remains of oak 
 timber were found in connection with the bronze 
 boss of an Anglo-Saxon shield. 
 
 Occasionally rims of metal have been found 
 with such remains, but such protecting edgings 
 do not seem to have been the usual custom. The 
 laws of Gula, quoted above, mention ^' two boards 
 ** in thickness," that is, glued crossways, to prevent 
 warping or splitting. Such a formation in a 
 convex shield would show a very great amount 
 of skill in the working of wood at this early date. 
 Leather seems to have been sometimes stretched 
 over the shield ; because the laws of Athelstan 
 forbade the use of sheepskins for the purpose, under 
 a penalty of 30s. : a very large sum. Had skin 
 coverings been common, remains of such skins 
 
 B 2 
 
Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 would be found still attached inside the bronze 
 bosses ; but only one skin-covered shield has been 
 found [at Linton Heath, in Cambridgeshire], and 
 in that the skin covered the boss also, having been 
 stretched over the whole shield. 
 
 Lastly, red seems to have been at least a 
 favourite colour, for Soemund's Edda mentions a 
 red shield with a golden border, and Giraldus de 
 Barri savs the Irish " carried red shields, in 
 *' imitation of the Danes." 
 
 The boss was often carried out into a sharp 
 spike, and the shield could thus be used for offence 
 as well as for protection. But perhaps such points 
 were also found of use in stopping the cut of a 
 sword, which might otherwise slip down the shield 
 and find a resting-place in the leg or other exposed 
 part. 
 
 We shall 
 
 see as we 
 proceed 
 that such 
 circular 
 shields or 
 
 targets con- 
 stantly ap- 
 pear till the 
 middle of 
 the seven- 
 teenth cen- 
 tury, borne byfootsoldiers, 
 
 with pikes, halberds, and 
 swords, and sometimes as 
 large as two feet in dia- 
 meter. Frequently foot 
 soldiers are represented 
 with a small target, ten or 
 twelve inches in diameter, 
 wherewith to receive their 
 
 Date 1473. 
 
Early Norman.. 5 
 
 opponent'vS cut, while the other arm wields a 
 huge broadsword. Such were in later times called 
 " targetiers." Their small targets were hooked to 
 the side when not in use, and one is represented in 
 1473 which projects to a point (Hewitt, ii, 488), 
 while others are flat and studded with nails, or 
 otherwise ornamented, such as appear among the 
 Scotch and Irish till a much later date. Small 
 shields of a square form, and ten inches square, 
 were used by fencers with rapiers in the sixteenth 
 and seventeenth centuries. 
 
 Such is a hasty sketch of the circular shields. 
 They were used by all ranks of the Saxon nations 
 — among whom, of course, were those we call 
 Normans — to the end of the tenth century. 
 
 Fitness for the purposes of defence is the prime 
 governing law in such matters. We shall see this 
 leading to many strange alterations of shape in 
 after centuries, and, at the date at which we have 
 now arrived, (the first half of the eleventh century,) 
 a perfect revolution in the appearance of shields 
 took place within a space of about fifty years. 
 
 Meyrick explains how the Normans who were 
 engaged in the conquest of Apulia, in the south-east 
 of Italy, about the beginning of the eleventh 
 century, learned there the advantages of long and 
 narrow shields, such as were then in use among 
 the Sicilians, and states that about fifty years 
 before the battle of Hastings they received from 
 Melo, the chief of Barri, supplies of such vastly 
 improved arms. The intimate relations with 
 Normandy at that time, and under Edward the 
 Confessor, led to their prompt adoption in England 
 also ; and hence in the Bayeux tapCvStry kite-shaped 
 vshields No. 3 are universal among horse soldiers, 
 both Anglo-Saxon and Norman. Some Saxon foot 
 soldiers bear the old round shields, and one square- 
 shaped one appears on that roll. 
 
6 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields, 
 
 There is a very amusing picture of Harold and 
 his companions proceeding, in company with 
 WilHam of Normandy, to the conquest of Britanny. 
 They came to the httle river Coesnon, where, the 
 tide being out, the river-bed was an expanse of 
 sHppery mud. The prudent ones dismounted and 
 led their horses across; but one horse is represented 
 coming down and the rider falling over his head, 
 while his shield flies through the air attached to 
 his neck by the guige [Bruce's Bayeux Tapestry, 
 p. 6i]. This ''guige" was another most valuable 
 improvement which probably came from Sicily 
 with the new shape of shields. It was a leather 
 strap sufliciently long to let it hang from the neck, 
 and so, when two hands were required to wield a 
 battle axe or heavy weapon, the shield could be 
 flung loose and recovered again. I am aware that 
 
 in Cotton MS. Cleopatra, 
 cviii, written early in the 
 eleventh century, a group 
 of Saxon horsemen is 
 represented on a journey, 
 and the round shield of 
 one hangs from his back, 
 looking like the beehive 
 which the knight in A lice 
 in Wonderland thought 
 might some day prove 
 useful. It has, it will 
 be seen, an absurdly awkward appearance [Hewitt, 
 vol. i, p. 77 ; Cutts, p. 313]. 
 
 The principle, then, of the kite-shaped shields 
 which we see in the eleventh century was that, 
 with as much compactness as possible, they should 
 protect the body with the wider part, while the 
 extended point was sufficient to defend the leg ; 
 and following so nearly the shape of the body the 
 knight had his sword-arm free. They seem to 
 
Introductory Remarks, 
 
 have been five feet long or even more, for they 
 served as a bier whereon to carry away the slain 
 or wounded.* It is amusing to see Goliath 
 represented with a kite-shaped shield, while the 
 little David on the top of him tries to wield his 
 huge sword. This appears in a Latin Bible of 1170. 
 [Brit. Mus., Add. MS. 14789, fo. 10 ; engraved, 
 Hewitt, i, 134.] 
 
 A remarkable recrudescence of old ideas both in 
 the shapes and sizes of vshields occurs from time 
 to time as we proceed. 
 At times they seem to 
 have been nearly as 
 much as five feet long 
 — and then, as protec- 
 tive mail became more 
 perfect, and probably 
 the varying style of 
 fighting required it, 
 they were greatly re- 
 duced. King David 
 and his followers ap- 
 pear [Cutts, p. 335], 
 on their expedition 
 against Nabal, in full 
 iiiail of the end of the 
 thirteenth century, 
 with shields scarcely 
 eighteen inches long — 
 just vsufficient to pre- 
 vent the point of a 
 
 * Randle Holme's Academy of Annoury, book i, p. 9, tells us how 
 Froissart, describing the battle of Poictiers, says that the Black Prince 
 commanded the body of the Lord Richard Uuras to be laid on a shield, and 
 that five men should bear the same to the Cardinal of Peregorth for a 
 ])resent, «!i:c. Also, that towards the end of the reign of Edward III, the 
 Frenchmen, to save themselves from the liberal shot of the l''.nglish archers, 
 had shields made of elme-wood, seven feel in length and three in breadth 
 and an inch in thickness, which were made sharp at the fool to pilch into 
 the ground. 
 
8 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 lance reaching some flat or dangerous or vulnerable 
 spot from whence it would not readily glide off, or 
 to receive the blows of an assailant's sword. Nor 
 can we suppose that one scale of size, or indeed 
 one exact shape of shield, reigned universal at any 
 one period ; every knight had his own fancies as to 
 which best suited him ; and at length we find many 
 illuminations of the sixteenth century in which 
 knights appear jousting and fighting without any 
 shields at all. They were hung up, to show the 
 heraldry, on their tents, and the massive body- 
 armour alone was considered sufficient protection. 
 
 These few explanatory words are necessary to 
 introduce upon the scene the various shaped shields 
 occurring during the centuries which follow. While 
 considering these variations we must bear in mind 
 that they are strongly marked into two great 
 divisions, viz., before the sixteenth century, when 
 shields were in actual use and any alteration in 
 their outline was considered to be an improvement 
 to meet some freshly noticed want ; this will be 
 further referred to as instances occur. During 
 and after the sixteenth century, shapes were selected 
 in an arbitrary way, as a matter of taste alone ; 
 and hence earlier examples were sometimes exactly 
 adopted, while at other times details and alterations 
 were introduced, just to suit the fancy of the 
 purchaser or artist and the conventional style of 
 the times. 
 
 As references for what has already been said, 
 I would name the works of Meyrick and Hewitt, 
 Planche's work on Costume, Strutt's Horda, and 
 a learned paper on shields, by Sir Frederick 
 Madden, in Archcsologia, vol. xxiv. This, although 
 primarily discussing the chessmen found in the 
 Island of Lewis, contains the results of wide 
 researches as to shields in the eleventh and twelfth 
 
Sources of Information. g 
 
 centuries. There is also a valuable and well 
 illustrated book, Scenes and Characters of the Middle 
 Ages, by A. L. Cutts, published by Messrs. Virtue 
 and Co., 1872. 
 
 The principal authority for the accurate dating 
 and classifying of shields is the immense number 
 of mediaeval seals attached to deeds and charters, 
 and with dates exactly known. If it were practi- 
 cable to arrange in chronological sequence illustra- 
 tions of a sufficient number of these, we should 
 at once have the classification of dates, styles, and 
 shapes, which would be so very valuable, and 
 which it is the attempt of this paper to display. 
 Hence it is that to the end of the fifteenth century 
 seals form so large a part of the evidences 
 submitted. The certainty of such records is 
 unsurpassed : we have a parchment, itself dated, 
 or the date of which in very early instances can 
 be otherwise closely ascertained ; and attached to 
 this we have a seal with the shield ; and, to make 
 it perfectly certain, we have the owner's name 
 inscribed around it, and so we know he is not 
 using some one else's seal, found or come down to 
 him from earlier times. Such instances frequently 
 occur, and are at once in this way detected. There 
 are instances where the same seal, acquired in 
 early life, continued to be used for over fifty years ; 
 but that is the extent to which such valuable 
 proofs can wander from the actual prevailing type 
 and date. 
 
 Besides seals, the many invaluable illuminations 
 in the British Museum and Bodleian Libraries, 
 and in the great Continental Libraries, furnish 
 numberless pictures of knights and their accoutre- 
 ments, contemporaneously executed, and with the 
 most manifest exactness in every detail. Many of 
 these have been engraved in our popular literature, 
 as well as in the learned works named above ; but 
 
lo Shapes found in Heraldic Shields, 
 
 to enable the mind to form correct conclusions 
 these should be all cut out and arranged in groups 
 of exact dates, or drawn as they are in a student's 
 note book. 
 
 The earlier monumental effigies afford many 
 valuable examples of shields, and after they cease 
 to be represented by the side of the figure, such 
 often appear among the architectural details, 
 giving the shape of shield, with an exact date 
 attached. 
 
 Monumental brasses give evidence to a later 
 date, and the canopy work introduced often carries 
 ornamental shields. 
 
 Architectural stone carvings frequently give data 
 
 of great value. I need only refer to those put up 
 
 in Westminster Abbey about 1260, which show the 
 
 exact shape and proportions of some of the shields 
 
 then used, and are represented as hanging by 
 
 their " guiges " from stone projections carved into 
 
 various devices. But representations in vStone and 
 
 in stained glass, especially those of later date, seem 
 
 to be greatly influenced by their surroundings, and 
 
 cannot therefore be implicitly relied on as proofs 
 
 of style and date. They are often found not to 
 
 correspond exactly with other examples ; indeed 
 
 it is a curious fact, which all my fellow students 
 
 will vouch for, that these two — stone and glass — 
 
 seem of all materials most liable to err. The 
 
 good name of many a respectable family has been 
 
 ruined by the bend sinister introduced through 
 
 the ignorant determination of some stone-carver ; 
 
 while in glass, colours are altered, and impaled 
 
 shields have been turned round and so reversed ; 
 
 while, in the particular subject under discussion, 
 
 viz., the exact shapes of shields which obtained at 
 
 various dates, we find in both stone and glass that 
 
 their shapes follow the necessities of the rest of 
 
 the design, and are made to fit into them. 
 
Plate I. 
 
 SHAPES OF SHIELDS 
 
 TRIANGULAR NORMAN ^^^^'^ S?i!!:S' HEATER ^p'^j^ SQUARE ANGULAR 
 
 GOTHIC GOTHIC GOTH iC PEAKED ^^^^^^^ j, 
 CONCAVE ENGRAILED WITH BOUCHE WITH BOUCHE 
 
 \6 
 
 ELIZABETHAN |^'^-Vo"J« 
 
 24 
 
 GERMAN GERMAN VICTORIAN 
 
 VICTORIAN VICTORIAN COLLEGE 
 WEDGE ENGRAILED ;^rmS 
 
 STUART 
 STUART FRENCH 
 BASE 
 
 PFORPISM rFnOPlSM nilPFM 'l^^^'^^'^NEWEDGE aUEENANNE GUEEN ANNE r>.■-^r^u. ra^Ki.ou 
 
 (^tUKUAN GtOKLIAN UlUttlN hollowed sides concave, concave rounded DUTCH SPANISH 
 
 /^ ^ WEDGE AN N E ROUND BASE scrolled ears three lobeo base 
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 SPANISH CONCAVE 
 
 ROMAN CARDI O I D 
 
 TOPS 
 
 5^ 
 
 FRENCH ANGULAR 
 HOLLOWED 
 
 SQUARE 
 NOWY BASE 
 
 "S ^^^^^ 7 Reared ) \ round ( WiGHTLvf /scroll^ /^ouareN V^prick^ 
 
 [EARED I ICOUPED 1 I eared! 1 EAR E D I ^EARED V 1 ear E D /^ lEAREDl 
 
 fcONVExl IwAVyI |cONCAVe| IsCRIBEDI 1 |SCRIBED-2| fwEDGE I | |wEDGBz1 
 
 |^_/S_y| K_^V_^^ N.vv.,^_^ ^ ^ I V I 
 
 lEN^crLEoi U'r^,iIoI Us^rJ Ip^akedI In.ckedI 
 
 BASES 
 
 W-HRjIandkc[eIlr.i889. 
 
Eleventh Century. ii 
 
 Printed books supply many shields from the end 
 of the fifteenth century, showing the artistic taste 
 in such matters which prevailed from that date to 
 the present. Printers' marks begin still earlier, 
 and are often contained in shields ; but these 
 usually show a spirit of exaggeration, and convey 
 the impression that such would not be found 
 elsewhere, and hence they are not of much use to 
 us in our present purpose of laying down exact 
 dates. 
 
 Grants of arms and book-plates come in to 
 continue our information, giving shapes and the 
 decorations surrounding them. Book-plates are 
 usually efforts of art and taste at the dates when 
 they were executed, and these two occur just at 
 the time when other evidences fall short, and so 
 they are peculiarly valuable. 
 
 In the following remarks I shall gladly avail 
 myself of the new syvStem of nomenclature devised 
 and introduced by my friend, Mr. J. Paul Rylands, 
 F.S.A. I welcome it as a most valuable desidera- 
 tum, by means of which I hope to make my 
 subject intelligible. Without such a syvStem a still 
 greater number of illustrations would have been 
 required, and I should like to bear my small 
 testimony to its very great and, I expect, increasing 
 usefulness. It is not everyone who has the ready 
 hand to dash off the correct outline when seeking 
 to communicate the style of a shield, or a book- 
 plate, and here we have a simple alphabet of 
 shapes which can be read and understanded of all 
 men, and which will certainly be found so convenient 
 that it will come into general use. 
 
 ELEVENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Our examples of shields show very few varieties, 
 nearly all seem to follow the long kite shape or 
 "Norman pear" Nos. 3 and 4. The great seals 
 
12 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 of William I., William Rufus, and Henry I. all 
 show this shield, also that of Ilbert de Laci 
 \ArchcBological 
 Journal, vol.iv, 
 p. 249], while 
 the Bayeux ta- 
 pestry, worked 
 at the end of 
 this century, re- 
 presents them 
 exactly. See- 
 
 ing, 
 
 as we do 
 
 m the seals of 
 this date, which 
 mostly repre- 
 sented mounted 
 horsemen, the 
 inside only, it 
 may be noticed 
 that all seem to be strengthened round their edges. 
 In those of William I. and Ilbert de Laci a metal 
 rim is shown ; in that of William Rufus two of 
 such strips, while in that of Henry I. rivets appear 
 to fasten a similar rim on the other side. In the 
 Bayeux tapestry some round shields with pointed 
 bosses appear, and one of a square shape rounded 
 at the corners. 
 
 In seals the lettering of the inscriptions is in 
 plain Roman capitals, while longobardic letters for 
 G E A and D appear sometimes, but in several 
 seals preserved from this early date the inscriptions 
 have unfortunately decayed away. 
 
 THE TWELFTH CENTURY 
 
 exhibits several varieties of shape, Norman and 
 the Norman convex at the top (Nos. i, 2, 3, and 4) ; 
 and many of these are curved, so as to partially 
 surround the body. The great seal of Stephen 
 
Twelfth Century. 
 
 13 
 
 represents a pointed boss and a shield almost 
 pear-shaped. One very curious seal, that of 
 Richard Basset, about 1145, merits a full descrip- 
 tion. He appears bearing a kite-shaped or very 
 elongated pear-shaped shield (No. 3), about four 
 feet long, and carried down to a sharp point. iThe 
 top is bi-lobed, like a heart, and it is strengthened 
 all round by a metal rim, while further strength is 
 imparted by a boss or figure like a simple escar- 
 boucle, carried out to the sides. He wields a very 
 powerful sword, with an extraordinarily heavy hilt, 
 and with it he cuts off the large duck-like beak of 
 a formidable rampant-winged animal like a dragon, 
 and, apparently, thus frees a human figure held in 
 its beak. This curious seal is attached to a 
 
 Gilbert de Gant, ob. 1156. 
 
 charter printed in Blomefield's History of Norfolk 
 (see No. 44). The seal of Gilbert de Gant, who 
 
14 
 
 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 died 1 156, presents a shield more triangular than 
 No. 2, and in the centre is a sharp pointed boss 
 [Top. and Gen., i, 317]. The same boss appears 
 
 in the seal of Ralph 
 son of William, of 
 Dimsdale - on - Tees, 
 1174-80 {Herald and 
 Genealogist, i, 227) ; 
 also in a good many 
 contemporaneous 
 seals, and it was evi- 
 dently meant for use 
 as an offensive wea- 
 pon. It is noteworthy 
 that on the first seal 
 of Richard I . a spike is 
 shown on the shield ; 
 his first coronation 
 was in ii8g. On 
 the second seal there 
 is none ; his second 
 coronation took place 
 on 17th April, 1194. 
 This may show the 
 date when this fashion 
 was discontinued. In 
 the seal of Sewal de 
 Ethindon, about 1167, the curved shield of Nor- 
 man form, No. 2, runs down into a long point, 
 somewhat twisted round, so as to show down 
 on the right side of the rider. It does not protect 
 his leg at all ; in fact, the arrangement, to our eyes, 
 seems awkward and most embarrassing to the 
 mounted knight (engraved Nicholas Upton, p. 84 ; 
 see No. 45). While in that of Sayer de Quinci, 
 towards the end of this century, a heater-pear shield 
 No. 6 appears. This is engraved in Spelman's 
 Aspilogia^ p. 67. 
 
Plate 11. 
 
 N'^4$ FagePJ. 
 
 A/°fdPsgc20 
 
 6.ti/fAZ£f3fiOO/\ FS.A. DEL. 
 
Tivelfth Century. 
 
 15 
 
 The men's seals of this date which present their 
 
 shields for our consideration usually show them 
 
 on horseback, fully ca- 
 parisoned ; and many 
 interesting details of 
 spurs, swords, and 
 arms are represented, 
 as well as the furniture 
 for their horses. We 
 are able here to show 
 the two seals of Mal- 
 gerus le Vavasour, 
 1140-50, showing 
 heater-pear, almost 
 heart-shaped shields. 
 See Collect. Topog. ct 
 Genealog., vol. vi, p. 
 127, where the deed to 
 which these are at- 
 tached is supposed to date between 1 180-6; but 
 
 Malger's son, William Vavasour, was a judge 
 
 1166-84 [Itinerary of 
 
 Henry II.], and Sir 
 
 Robert, the grandson, 
 
 paid a heavy fine — 
 
 1200 marks and two 
 
 palfreys — in g John, 
 
 1207-8, that Maud his 
 
 daughter [and widow 
 
 of Theobald Walter] 
 
 might marry Fulke 
 
 Fitzwarine : we have 
 
 thus no difficulty in 
 
 proving that the date 
 
 of this seal is circa 
 
 1 140 to 1 150. We 
 
 also give the beautiful 
 
 seal of Egidius de Gorram, 1175-80 [Collectanea 
 
i6 
 
 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 Topog. et Genealog., vol. v 
 
 In counterseals of th 
 appear such as are 
 common during the 
 next century. A most 
 curious instance of a 
 pear-shaped curved 
 shield, having a bouche 
 cut into it for the intro- 
 duction of the spear, oc- 
 curs in the seal of The- 
 odoric Count of Flan- 
 ders, 1159, who wears 
 tegulated armour. It 
 is engraved in Oliver 
 Vredius, p. 17 (see No. 
 46) . So far as we know, 
 this useful bouche, as 
 a resting place for the 
 spear, disappeared — to 
 
 , p. 187. The unmounted 
 knight is represented in 
 scale armour, kneeling, 
 and holding a sort of 
 heater-pear shield. No. 6, 
 with a pointed boss. 
 
 The fields of seals are 
 now quite plain, except 
 sometimes in those 
 of ladies. In the first 
 seal of Roheis de Gant, 
 Countess of Lincoln 
 before 1156, liHes are 
 introduced, to fill up 
 what would otherwise 
 appear too great a bare 
 space. This is engraved 
 in Topog. and Genealogist^ 
 vol. i, p. 318. 
 
 is century heater shields 
 
Twelfth Century, 
 
 17 
 
 crop up again, as an improvement and novelty, in 
 
 the middle of the fourteenth century. 
 
 The marvellous set of chessmen found in the 
 
 Isle of Lewis afford us a most interesting series of 
 
 shields of this century. They are fully illustrated, 
 
 A rchcEologia, vol.xxiv. 
 They give us the long 
 Norman pear or kite- 
 shaped No. 3, the 
 Norman convex No. 
 4, also a flattened 
 convex with rounded 
 corners, and these 
 shields are all long 
 and narrow, just wide 
 enough to cover the 
 body. There are 
 many instances of ex- 
 actly similar shields. 
 In Harl. MS. 2803, a 
 Bible, written about 
 1 170, Goliath of Gath 
 bears a shield exactly 
 resemblingthem; and 
 inthemost interesting 
 monumental effigy of 
 William, Count of 
 Flanders, son of Ro- 
 bert, Duke of Nor- 
 mandy, who died in 
 1 127, engraved in 
 Oliver Vredius' Seals 
 of the Counts of Flan- 
 ders^ i6jg^ p. 14. He 
 Harl. MS. Y. 6. (See p. i8.) apparently was a very 
 
 old man at his death. He bears a shield exactly 
 like the Lewis chessmen in shape, but the face of 
 it is filled up with an elaborate escarboucle, carried 
 
i8 
 
 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 out and attached to the rim, which wholly surrounds 
 the shield. Shields with the flattened convex top 
 and rounded corners, but of much shorter propor- 
 tions, occur in Had. MS. Y. 6. (engraved Hewitt, 
 vol. i, p. 127), written at the end of the twelfth 
 century, and one clearly shows the curved forma- 
 tion which is indicated in numberless seals and 
 illuminations of this date. 
 
 The inscriptions are in Latin and in longobardic 
 characters, but Gothic letters are sometimes alter- 
 nated, while in others plain Roman capitals still 
 occur. I have noticed one remarkable instance of 
 an inscription of this century, in Norman-French, 
 around the seal of Alanus fil. Adam, temp. Henry \l. 
 The deed to which it is attached is printed in 
 Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica, vol. v, p. 116. 
 
 THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 In the earliest years of this century Norman 
 shields curved round the body still continue ; while 
 in seals, which at this date are our principal source 
 of evidence, animals, such as dragons, appear to 
 fill up the field, and especially to support a plain 
 shield in large counterseals ; also distinctive badges 
 are introduced, such as cinquefoils, estoiles, mascles, 
 boars' heads, lions, &c. ; but sometimes in character 
 they follow greatly the pattern obtaining at the end 
 of the twelfth century. "Heater-pear" No. 6 
 occurs, and frequently such a 
 shield stands in the centre of a 
 circular seal, merely surrounded 
 by the inscription in longobardic. 
 The heater shield is now rather 
 more pointed than it appears 
 in later examples. 
 
 A very curious triangular shield 
 No. I also now appears, as in 
 the seal of Johannes fil. Galfridi 
 
Thirteenth Century. 19 
 
 de Edinton, such a triangular shield on a plain 
 circular field, around which is the inscription, in 
 plain Roman capitals. This is engraved in the 
 Visit. Hunts. ^ ^6ij^ p. 100. Another seal, Nigellus 
 de Amundeville, is entirely three-cornered, a little 
 longer than an equilateral triangle ; the shield is of 
 the same contour, and shows three chevrons, while 
 the edging leaves space for the inscription round 
 the three sides. This is also engraved in the Visit, 
 of Huntingdon, i6ij, p. 121, published by the 
 Camden Society. This shape of triangular seal 
 seems to have been more common than was 
 supposed. The curious seal of the Treverbin family 
 of Cornwall is engraved, A rchcEO logical Journal^ 
 vol. X, p. 150 ; but, as it shows no shield, it stands 
 outside our present subject. 
 
 Another curious shield is figured in Nicholas 
 Upton, De Usu Militari, Bisse edition, 1654, p. 37, 
 and of date 1257 (^^^ ^^- 47)- Henry de Fernbureg 
 stands with a square shield in his left hand. It is 
 about two feet long, considerably curved, and 
 appears to be very thick. In his right hand he 
 holds a hammer extending into a sharp spike at 
 the back. Square shields very much like this, 
 but more oblong in shape, and with a round boss 
 projecting from the middle, occur in the very 
 curious illustration of a wager of duel in the 
 Miscel. Rolls, temp. Henry III., and therefore of 
 date 1210-50. Each duellist carries such a shield ; 
 they must be over two feet long, and are much 
 curved ; while with the other hand he wields an 
 awkward looking hammer, or more properly a pick, 
 as it is pointed at both ends ; while, after the 
 manner of ancient pictures, the vanquished (and 
 therefore the guilty one) is seen hanging up in the 
 background. This is engraved in Hewitt's ^;^c/^n^ 
 Armour J vol. i, p. 375, also in Madox's History of the 
 Exchequer y p. 383. 
 
 c a 
 
20 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 =^#^^=^ 
 
 In the very curious instance of the seal of 
 Thomas Furnival, his arms are shown in a lozenge- 
 shaped shield. This is of date 1274-g, ^^^ is 
 engraved in Herald and Genealogist^ vol. iii, p. 334. 
 Even at this early date such a shape seems to have 
 been usually reserved for ladies. Sir George 
 Mackenzie [quoted in Guillim's Display^ ed. 1724] 
 mentions that Muriell, Countess of Stratherne, 
 bore her arms in a lozenge in 1284. 
 
 Another very curious shield of Helie Count de 
 Maine is reproduced in Montfau9on's Monarchie 
 
 Frangaise. This is a wedge- 
 shaped or triangular shield, 
 but the top has square corners 
 and is peaked (see No. 48). 
 The seal of Turstan Dis- 
 pensator Regis, about 1210, 
 shows the heater-pear with 
 the upper corners slightly 
 varied. This is engraved in 
 Collect. Top. et Gen., vol. iv, 
 p. 239. The ancient arms 
 of Despencer are said to have been Ermine, a chief 
 Gules ; but this seems to represent 
 
 SIX 
 
 cloves, four and two, and a chief; and to fill up 
 
Thirteenth Century, 21 
 
 the space three cinquefoils are introduced in the 
 field. 
 
 But, as before laid down, the general shapes of 
 shields in this century are the Norman No. 2, often 
 of very long proportions, as shown in William de 
 Longespee, Earl of Sarum, 1226, and the statues 
 at Wells Cathedral, 1230; the heater-pear No. 6, 
 and the plain heater No. 5, rather long and pointed. 
 A Clifford seal given in Nicholas Upton, p. gi, of 
 date 1220, has a heater-pear shield on the seal, 
 and an ordinary heater on the smaller counterseal 
 (see No. 49). We may remark that on the tomb of 
 Queen Eleanor, in Westminster Abbey, appears, on 
 a long-shaped heater shield, the first example of 
 quartering in England which just comes within 
 the limits of the thirteenth century. This repre- 
 sents the two kingdoms of Castile and Leon, but 
 it was undoubtedly the example which afterwards 
 led to regular quarterings of arms by families. 
 
 It is noticeable that during the latter half of 
 this century shields begin to be shown in seals, 
 suspended by the guige, which is passed round a 
 tree or other device from which it can hang. 
 
 Flowers, leaves, and even architectural details, 
 enarching, &c., now begin to appear, to fill up 
 the field, and the whole tone approaches the style 
 prevailing in the following century. 
 
 It may be as well to remark in this place that 
 milled, dotted, or roped lines around seals are 
 no indication of date. They appear in all these 
 varieties as early as William the Conqueror, and 
 extend to the latest times, according to the fancy 
 of the artist. 
 
 Inscriptions are in longobardic, with plain Latin 
 capitals often alternated ; and in the seal of 
 Henry II. the letter r has a line across the tail, 
 signifying a contraction — henr for Henrici. 
 
 Until the end of this century a cross is used at the 
 
22 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields, 
 
 beginning of the inscriptions, but about 1275 stars 
 appear, and in the next century trefoils and other 
 devices are frequently introduced instead of crosses. 
 
 FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 This century opens with that most valuable fund 
 of information the celebrated Baron's letter, 1301, 
 the seals attached to which are beautifully engraved 
 in the Monumenta Vetiista of the Society of Anti- 
 quaries, vol. i, plates 28-33. ^ large number of 
 .these show heater shields, some more and some 
 less pointed. The beautiful round seal of Simon 
 de Montacute shows a square vshield. No. 7, with 
 a pointed French base ; while to represent the 
 curving of the shield the top is concave. The side 
 spaces in the field, as is frequently the case with 
 seals of this date, are filled up with two grotesque 
 animals or worms, while in the place where a 
 crest would be appears a large castle, &c. The 
 counterseal to this is square, representing a grifiin 
 segreant, not in a vshield at all, but surrounded by 
 a bordure. 
 
 Badges or portions of armorial bearings obtained 
 from heiresses now frequently appear on the fields, 
 to fill up ; being the way in which such inter- 
 marriages were shown before the general introduc- 
 tion of quarterings. Flowers in the field, also 
 enarching and architectural details, are freely used 
 to fill up the blank spaces, and in one of the seals 
 attached to the Baron's letter — that of Hugo 
 Bardolf, of Wormgay (see No. 50) — no room is 
 left outside the architectural embellishment for an 
 inscription. Seals also occur shaped entirely like 
 a heater shield ; with a similar shield in the centre 
 containing the arms, as in that of Matthew Fitz 
 John, where the three lions rampant appear, while 
 the space beyond is filled up with the inscribed 
 name of the owner. See No. 51. 
 
Fourteenth Century. 
 
 23 
 
 The vseals of this whole century are most 
 beautifully designed and executed, and almost 
 universally show the heater shape ; pointed in the 
 
 earlier decades, and becoming 
 gradually shorter and more 
 square-shaped say about 1370. 
 The secretum of Robert 
 Braybroke, Bishop of London 
 1382-1401, well shows this 
 squareness. It is engraved in 
 the Proceedings of the Society 
 of Antiquaries^ gth Dec, 1869, 
 also 3rd Feb., 1887. To the 
 same deed, dated 21st May, 
 1392, is also attached the seal of Sir Gerard 
 Braibrok the younger. 
 
 The fields are beautifully deco- 
 rated, being diapered or filled up 
 with architectural or ornamental 
 details — lines, dots, and flowers ; 
 while frequently crests, with hel- 
 mets and mantlings, occur ; and 
 sometimes two of such helmets 
 are placed as supporters on each 
 side of the shield, or two grotesque animals hold 
 up the helmet and crest, while the shield of arms 
 appears in the base. 
 
 Gothic lettering in the Latin inscriptions now 
 first appears, although more fre- 
 quently longobardic, and occa- 
 sionally still the plain Roman 
 capitals. Frequently the whole 
 face of the seal is so filled up 
 that the only spaces left for the 
 inscription are on the edges, 
 above and below the arms. The 
 seal of Edmund of Arundel, 
 1301-26, shows this arrangement. It is from 
 
24 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 Herald and Genealogist, vol. ii, p. 56. Now, also, 
 two, three, or more shields appear, conjointed or 
 standing side by side. The earliest instance I have 
 noticed is Sigillum Ide de Clinton, 1298-1300, with 
 three heater shields, points to the centre [Nicholas 
 Upton, p. 82]. Towards the middle of the century 
 they are frequently found. 
 
 In the curious seal of Rich., fil. Ricardi de Beyvill 
 of Wodewalton, which is heater- 
 shaped, and attached to a deed 1349, 
 a square heater shield shows a 
 chevron between three roundels, and 
 is supported by two worms or dra- 
 gons, while across the top of the 
 seal appears the name " Beyvil." 
 This is engraved Visit. Huntingdon, 
 p. 116. 
 Besides the curved heater of the last century, 
 which appears in the great seal of Edward II., 1307, 
 and in several monumental effigies, others of 
 Norman heater form No. 2 appear with the upper 
 corners cut off and sometimes rounded. Refer to 
 an effigy in Norton Church, Durham, engraved in 
 Surtees History, vol. iii, p. 155 (see No. 52), while 
 in illuminated MSS. shields occur with the bouche 
 deeply cut and the base of the shield curved 
 outwards. This curved outward turning will be 
 discussed while speaking of similar shields found 
 in the next century. Two which occur in Bamberg 
 Cathedral are engraved A rchcEological Journal, vol. ii, 
 p. 217, and in Hewitt's ^rmowr, vol. ii, p. 138-9, and 
 are specially curious (see No. 55) ; and several are 
 shown from Had. MS. 14379, ^^^ engraved in 
 Cutts, p. 434. 
 
 Shields on monumental effigies almost, if not 
 entirely, disappear in the course of this century, 
 and in battles and tournaments in ancient MSS. of 
 this date the knights are more usually represented 
 
Plate III, 
 
 /V-S6Ps^e3f j]/^67P&g€3f. N''S/P^ge2£. //^S2Ps^e 2f. 
 
 U^Sd.P^^e ZS. 
 
 N''S61'Pa^e 35 
 
 N?6i-.Faffe^^2. 
 
 //?S5?Psge JJ. 
 
 59 see Plate iv. 
 
 G.G/iAzeBRooK. fSJ^. oai 
 
Fourteenth Century. 25 
 
 without shields. Such is the fact ; the reason 
 being that defensive armour had been added to and 
 improved, and increased in respect of weight, as 
 experiences of war vshowed the contingencies 
 against which it was desirable to be protected. 
 The shield, therefore, became an encumbrance to 
 the mounted knight, while so perfect was his case 
 of steel, and so admirably fitted and designed, that 
 the shield was no longer required. We notice that 
 this general discarding of shields by mounted 
 knights begins about the latter half of this 
 fourteenth century among the wealthy and powerful, 
 who could procure expensive and perfect suits of 
 mail. It is in memory of such only that costly 
 monumental effigies were erected, and, as a 
 consequence, the shields formerly shown carved by 
 the side of the knights now entirely disappear from 
 effigies. The reasons here put forward are quite 
 borne out by other evidences. Monumental brasses, 
 which now lend their assistance to our search, were 
 far less costly memorials than such effigies. Some 
 of the earliest of these represent the dead knight 
 as he appeared in his life, with his shield upon the 
 arm ; but in the course of the following fifteenth 
 century these, too, follow the fashion we find 
 prevailing in MS. illustrations, and the shields are 
 only used for the purposes of heraldry, and are 
 relegated into the corners of the brass, or up 
 among its tabernacle work. 
 
 While on this subject of suits of mail, I may with 
 advantage ovenstep the limits of this century — as, 
 indeed, I have already done — and mention that 
 such went on increasing so greatly in protective 
 perfectness, and, pari passu, in their oppressive 
 weight, that a knight falling off the horse upon 
 which he had been placed lay perfectly helpless ; 
 and history records many times that they were 
 slain by clowns and boys while lying helpless on 
 
26 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 the ground. When the style of protective armour 
 became so exaggerated, a man so hampered could do 
 little more than hold his spear and guide his horse. 
 Until at last, about the year 1602, King James I. 
 summed up the past experience of armour thus : — 
 " It was an admirable invention, which preserved 
 ^' a man from being injured, — and made him 
 ^'incapable of injuring any one else." 
 
 In some books it is stated that the introduction 
 and gradually increasing use of gunpowder in war 
 led by degrees to the abandonment of shields ; 
 but the above evidences completely refute such an 
 idea. Heavy mail armour, exaggerated into an 
 absurdity — as pointed out by King James — did so 
 disappear when it became evident that such 
 afforded no protection whatever against a small 
 bit of well-directed lead. But shields had already 
 been abandoned by the knights, — long before, at a 
 period when gunpowder was as yet a great and 
 rare mystery. 
 
 Besides, we find round shields were still in 
 continued use by the foot-soldiery, when every 
 battlefield was contested with fire and sword — the 
 smoke as well as the din of battle. 
 
 Moreover, examples have come down to us of 
 such shields with fixed pistols projecting through, 
 and with a peep-hole for sighting. Thus shields were 
 made the handmaid of gunpowder ; 
 and, as a matter of fact, they were 
 in use by foot soldiers so late as the 
 middle of the seventeenth century. 
 We noticed that the heater shields 
 which obtained so largely during 
 this century, and grew less and less 
 pointed as it progressed, at last 
 became much squarer. The seal 
 of Edmund Mortimer, Earl of 
 March, 1372, might well be taken for the fifteenth 
 
Fourteenth Century. 
 
 27 
 
 century; the square heater, with blunt-shaped base ; 
 the inscription in Gothic, and curiously placed 
 at the top and bottom ; and the two supporting 
 helmets, with mantlings and huge panaches, out 
 of which appear below the hinder half of the bodies 
 and legs of two 
 animals, the rest 
 of their carcasses 
 being crammed in- 
 side these helmets. 
 This is taken from 
 the engraving in 
 Herald and Genea- 
 logist^ vol. ii, p. 56. 
 But from about 
 this date down- 
 wards we can per- 
 ceive much more 
 discriminating 
 taste exercised in 
 designing seals. 
 The seal of Richard 
 Earl of Arundel, 
 1330-76, from the 
 engraving in 
 Herald and Genealogist^ vol. ii, p. 54, is an example 
 of such beautiful design and execution.* 
 
 * It would be curious to ascertain, if we could, how long the die sinkers 
 in early times required to make these large and splendid seals. I have only 
 noted a few instances which throw light upon it, but, no doubt, a careful 
 search might show the earliest dates after their succession when the several 
 kings used their new great seals. Rymer's Fmiera contains many orderings 
 and surrenderings of such seals ; the great difficulty is to connect the 
 impression with the thing ordered or dealt with. Blacksione [77/<? Great 
 Charter and the Charter of the Forest, 4to, 1759, pp. xxix and xliii] informs 
 us that the great Charter of Henry III, dated 12th November, 1216 (he was 
 crowned at Gloucester, 28th October, 1216), was sealed- as declared in the 
 document — with the seals of Gualo the Legate and William Earl of Pembroke ; 
 King John's seal having been lost in passing the Washes of Lincolnshire, and 
 no new seal being made for King Henry till two years after. Al)out 
 6th November, 1218, a new great seal was made for King Henry III, and 
 tlien began to be used in sealing writs, of course, but was forbidden to be 
 
28 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 The small seal of Matilde Fraunceys, relict of 
 Simon Fraunceys, citizen of London, attached to 
 a deed 33 Edward III. [1359], is a characteristic 
 example of ordinary small well- 
 executed seals prevailing in this 
 century. The engraving is 
 from the Proceedings of Society 
 of Antiquaries^ nth Dec, 1856. 
 Some families seem to have 
 taken a special pride in their 
 seals. Those of the Bardolfe 
 family of Wyrmegeye, Norfolk, 
 continue pre-eminent for several 
 generations. Occasionally one 
 member of a family shows a seal 
 of extreme beauty, the work of 
 some " Strongitharm " or " Wyon " of those days, 
 and in this way the centuries may frequently seem 
 to overlap each other. Such exceptional seals 
 show an execution, shape of shield frequently, and 
 
 put to anything which might tend to perpetuity till the king should arrive to 
 full age ; and a footnote is added, " It has not even in later times been 
 " altogether unusual for the successor to defer for a while the making of a 
 "new great seal, — and in the inteiim to use his predecessor's : — The Editor 
 "has met with a patent of Richd Cromwell, dated i8 Nov. 1658, [11 weeks 
 "after his protectorship commenced] which was sealed with Oliver's seal. ' 
 Roger de Hoveden notes, under the year 1194, that Richard I. ordered a new 
 great seal to be made, but the earliest deed to which it is known to be 
 attached bears date 18th May, 1 198— that is, four years afterwards. (M. 
 Deville's Treatise on the Seals of Richard /., and Archcsolos^ical 'journal, 
 vol. iii, p. 372.) Among the Standish Deeds, which I had lately the honour 
 to lay before this Society, was one — a licence to found a chantry at Standish — 
 granted by Edward III. on I2th February, 1328, and with apparently an 
 unfinished seal. The impression is a bad one, but the lions afterwards on the 
 horse clothing seem to be wanting. He only ascended the throne 25ih 
 January, 1327. On the fourth day of his reign, viz., 28th January, 1327, he 
 delivered his great seal to the Bishop of Ely as Chancellor, two fleur-de-lys 
 having been .engraved on the under side thereof (Rymer's Fcedera, vol. ii, 
 p. 683). This was his father's seal, thus slightly altered on one side. In 
 October of the same year Edward III. stated by proclamation that he had a 
 new great seal, different on both sides from the seal hitherto used ; which 
 great seal was to have authority from 4th October, 1327. Rymer, vol. ii, 
 p. 718, records that the previous seal was broken up in the king's presence, 
 in his chamber in the Castle of Nottingham. See Professor Willis on the 
 great seals of Edward III., a learned paper printed in the Architological 
 Journal^ vol. ii, p. 14. 
 
Fourteenth Century, 29 
 
 design somewhat later than their art-date, in the 
 sequence we are endeavouring to __ 
 
 lay down. Other such overlappings 
 occur from the great age of the 
 seal user. Elianor Ferre uses on a 
 deed, 1348, a dimidiated seal, which 
 was surely made about 1290. She 
 died, a very old lady, in 1349. This 
 seal is engraved in Archceological 
 Journal^ vol. xi, p. 375 ; and if you will refer to 
 Herald and Genealogist^ vol. i, p. 485, you will see a 
 seal of Clare and Fitzgerald dimidiated on a shield 
 of apparently identical date. The inscription is 
 " Sigill-Elianore-Ferre " ; so she used her own seal 
 made in early life, perhaps dating from her marriage. 
 The seal of Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of 
 Albemarle, used in 1292, is another dimidiated 
 heraldic seal, almost identical. See No. 53. 
 
 Pointed heater shields with concave tops, sug- 
 gesting their curved shape, are not uncommon in 
 this century, and inscriptions in Gothic type became 
 much more frequent. 
 
 The description of a shield which used to hang, 
 before the Great Fire, in old St. Paul's, London, 
 will be an interesting illustration of how shields 
 were made in the fourteenth century. This was 
 the shield of John of Gaunt (or Ghent, as it was 
 originally spelled), our Duke of Lancaster, the 
 third brother of Edward the Black Prince, and 
 father of Henry IV. He was born 1340, and died 
 1399, so we may assign 13.70 as about the date of 
 its manufacture. In shape it is an oblong square 
 with rounded corners and hollowed-out sides and 
 base, while a very deep bouche is cleft into the 
 dexter chief. It, much resembles the "Gothic- 
 rounded No. 12," but the base is flat and hollowed 
 out. I am quoting from Bolton's Elements of 
 ArmorieSy 1610^ p. 69 : — '* It is very convex toward 
 
30 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 ** the bearer, whether by warping through age, or 
 *' as made of purpose. It hath in dimensions more 
 *' than three-quarters of a yeard of length and 
 " above halfe a yeard in breadth : next to the body 
 " is a canvas glew'd to a boord, upon that thin 
 '' board are broad thin axicles, sHces or plates of 
 *' home nail'd fast, and againe over them 20 and 
 *' sixe peeces of the like all meeting or centring 
 " about a round plate of the same in the navell of 
 ^' the shield, and over all a leather clozed fast to 
 " them with glew or other holding stuffe, — upon 
 "which his armorie was painted, but now they 
 " with the leather itself have very lately and very 
 " lewdly bin utterly spoil'd." This is engraved in 
 Bolton's Elements, in Willement's Regal Heraldry, 
 in Randle Holme's Academy, and in several other 
 heraldic works. There is also engraved in Bolton's 
 Elements, p. 67, the shield of Edward the Black 
 Prince hanging over his tomb at Canterbury. This 
 was of the egg shape No. 35 ; and in a circle in the 
 centre were, on a heater shield No. 5, the arms of 
 France and England quarterly with a label of three 
 points ; while around this circle the rest of the 
 shield was embossed or "tooled" with an elaborate 
 filagree pattern, and a narrow plain rim extended 
 round the outer edge. 
 
 The inscriptions in this century continue to be 
 in Latin and in Roman letters, but sometimes 
 Gothic lettering is used. 
 
 FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Our materials for proof during this century are 
 peculiarly numerous and rich. There is great 
 store of beautiful seals, many of them highly 
 decorated, and preparing us for their decay and 
 disappearance after about 1490. Then again, 
 MS. illustrations of tournaments show the shaped 
 shields of the knights hung up on tents or else- 
 
Fifteenth Century. 
 
 31 
 
 where, and adorned with their heraldry ; and 
 occasionally, and in one case as late as 1480, two 
 knights appear on horseback, jousting and bearing 
 shields ; also, in some cases, combats on foot, 
 where the knights carry shields. We have also 
 stained glass with shields, which, at this early 
 time, seem more closely to follow the shapes of 
 those actually in use. 
 
 Grants of arms now begin to supply shapes of 
 shields, and towards the end of the century 
 printers' marks appear, although these last seem 
 to be affected by a fanciful exaggeration. 
 
 As a case of recrudescence of old ideas we must 
 refer to the instance of a bouche, in which to rest 
 
 Add. MS. 15,477— date 1360. 
 
 the spear, so early as 1360, in Add. MS. 15,477, 
 in the British Museum (Hewitt, vol. ii, p. 231) ; 
 indeed one is represented vastly earlier, in 1159, in 
 the seal of Theodoric Count of Flanders, engraved 
 in Oliver Vredius, p. 17 (see No. 46). Such shields 
 are now very frequent, except upon seals, where 
 
32 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields, 
 
 they seldom occur ; and the reason is, no doubt, 
 that they would have interfered with the heraldic 
 charges, which now begin to be multiplied. 
 
 Heater shields, and sometimes pointed, just as 
 they appear at earlier dates, are still continued ; 
 but in most cases, and especially towards the 
 middle and end of the century, they become much 
 more square and blunter at the base. 
 
 Seals of the more important families are filled 
 up with elaborate decorations — diapering on the 
 fields, leaves and mantlings filling up the whole 
 space, and supporting animals, finely and boldly 
 designed, are introduced ; and several concentric 
 lines, differently ornamented, with quatrefoils, 
 crosses, mullets, and stars upon these circular 
 bands sometimes occur within the inscription. 
 
 From about 1420 a custom began, and is occa- 
 sionally adopted in the larger seals, to represent as 
 scrolls those bands upon which the inscriptions of 
 name and title, &c., were written, while the ends 
 were ornamentally unfolded and loose. To show 
 
 exactly what I mean I 
 would refer to the seal 
 of John de Clinton de 
 Say, 1438, No. 54, en- 
 graved in ArchcEologia, 
 vol. xxxviii, p. 272, and 
 
 to that of Sir John 
 Pelham, 1469. This 
 is engraved in Archceo- 
 logical Journal^ vol. vii, 
 p. 323 ; the Sussex 
 Archaeological Soci- 
 ety's vol. iii, p. 220 ; 
 also m Historical and Genealogical Notices of the 
 Pelham Family^ privately printed in 1873 by the 
 late Mr. M. A. Lower. 
 
 Many of these seals are marvels of design and 
 
Fifteenth Century, 33 
 
 execution. At the very end of the century we 
 notice so much is sought to be represented that the 
 designs in consequence become flat and weak, 
 losing much of their character and boldness, and 
 thus preparing us for the startling change in the 
 following century. Another noticeable circumstance 
 is that such splendid and pretentious seals are not 
 confined to the greatest nobility or people of vast 
 territorial influence. Many untitled families towards 
 the end of the fifteenth century showed seals not 
 quite so large, but fully equal in workmanship and 
 beautiful design to those of the house of Lancaster, 
 the Nevilles, Lords of Abergavenny ; the Dukes 
 of Buckingham, and other great titled nobles. 
 Through the kindness of Mr. H. S. Grazebrook 
 
 I am able to show the 
 seal of Richard Dudley of 
 Clapton, Northants ; the 
 arms of Dudley quartering 
 Hotot [see William Salt 
 Society vol. x, p. 54]. 
 This seal was exhibited 
 to the Heralds at their 
 Visitation of Northants, 
 1618, ''antiquum Sigillum 
 argenteum," and is tricked 
 in their original MS. As 
 its date is between 1440 and 1475, I have no 
 doubt it was made for that Richard Dudley of 
 Clapton who "• condidit testamentum " 1465. 
 
 We must now take up those curiously curved 
 outward shields, alluded to as shown in Harl. 
 MS. 4379, of a date about 1360, see No. 55, 
 and again at Bamberg Cathedral, 1370 [page 24], 
 see No. 55A and No. 55B. We may lay it down as 
 an axiom that every alteration in the shapes of 
 shields at these early dates, and therefore for 
 actual use, arose from some apparent advantage to 
 
34 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 be gained by it. Hewitt, vol. ii, p. 314, engraves 
 a curved shield, about the end of the fourteenth 
 century, from an ivory chessman. In the Archceo- 
 logical Journal^ vol. ix, p. iig, there is one, from 
 stained glass, of early in the fifteenth century. This 
 is a square parallelogram with a bouche, and the 
 top and bottom are projected forwards, while the 
 intermediate portion is flat. This shield is of 
 considerable thickness, see No. 56. In the statue 
 of Henry VI. at Westminster, of the date 1422, a 
 similar shield appears without any bouche, but 
 with the top and bottom ends similarly projected 
 and the middle portion flat, see No. 57. This 
 is engraved in Meyrick's Ancient Armour^ plate 42. 
 A similar shield, from an ancient chest in York 
 Minster, is shown in the same book, vol. ii, at 
 p. 124. In the grant of arms to the Ironmongers' 
 Company, 1455, and in many other instances, a 
 bouched shield, deeply engrailed at top and bottom, 
 has both ends similarly projected, the middle portion 
 being curved, but to a lesser degree. This is 
 engraved in Herald and Genealogist, vol. i, p. 37, 
 and the same shield of arms is illuminated in the 
 margin of the charter granted to the Ironmongers 
 in 1483. It seems evident that the intention in 
 thus hollowing out the face of the shield was to 
 receive and to retain the spear point with greater 
 certainty upon that part of the shield ; as in combat 
 it was found to slip off above or below, and search 
 out for itself some dangerous resting place on the 
 helmet or other vulnerable part of the armour. 
 This shape could not readily be shown in front 
 view on seals, but such shields curved outwards 
 appear frequently with great clearness in illumina- 
 tions where a side view is commonly given, see an 
 engraving of men at arms in fourteenth century in 
 Cutts, p. 339. I am also able to show a most 
 interesting illumination of a knight of the fifteenth 
 
On Shields curved outwards. 
 
 35 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields^ 
 
 century bearing a very curious shield. This is 
 from Cutts, p. 398. 
 
 Round shields borne by foot soldiers appear 
 curved and bulged out in the same way. I 
 annex the representation of a soldier 
 with a spear and such a round 
 shield from Cotton MS. Claudius, 
 D. ii, fol. 30. This dates from the 
 earlier part of the fourteenth century, 
 and is engraved in Hewitt, vol. ii, p. 
 114. This formation is apparently 
 meant to give strength, and to ensure 
 a cut or thrust gliding off, rather 
 than resting upon the shield. 
 
 The reasons for some other alte- 
 rations are not so apparent ; for 
 instance, in the seal of Ralph Shelton, 
 circa 1460, see No. 58, a curious projecting point 
 is shown in the right hand base [called sinister 
 in heraldry] of the shield, and a similar projection 
 
Curiotisly shaped Shields. 
 
 37 
 
 occurs in the beautiful escutcheon of EHzabeth of 
 
 York, wife of Henry VII., 1485, see No. 59, engraved 
 
 in Willement's Regal Heraldry. A stone carving of 
 
 a bouche, with a very similar formation and of the 
 
 same date, and bearing the Tilney arms, is found 
 
 upon Shelly Hall, Suffolk, and is etched in the 
 
 Anastatic Drawing Society's volume for 1871. It 
 
 seems probable this was originally meant to protect 
 
 some part of the left leg 
 
 or ankle which was liable 
 
 to be injured in combat. 
 
 Another shield here shown 
 
 gives with great clearness 
 
 this curious point. It is 
 
 engraved in Mr. Cutts' 
 
 book, p. 402, and taken 
 
 from Harl. MS. 4925, fo. 
 
 cxxx. This, however, is too 
 
 small to protect the leg. 
 
 Many shields now occur 
 with hollowed-out sides, 
 and engrailed at the top 
 and base, and are classed 
 in our plate under the 
 various forms of Gothic 
 (Nos. 9 to 12). Some- 
 times the top is straight, 
 
 while the sides and base are engrailed out, and in 
 instances, perhaps under German influence, the 
 bases are rounded. The endless variety of these 
 beautiful Gothic shields is most fascinating. The 
 wonder is that they lasted for so verv short a time, 
 from the middle of this fifteenth century to the first 
 few decades of the sixteenth. 
 
 In Cutts' valuable book, p. 454 (see No. 59J, two 
 unmounted knights, from an engraving by Hans 
 Burgmaier, are represented in combat, about 1450, 
 carrying two very curious shields, somewhat similar 
 
38 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 in idea to these Gothic shields. Being divided 
 lengthways into three partitions ; both are broader 
 at the top and narrowed at the lower end, and they 
 seem to be about 3 feet 6 inches long. One is 
 convex at the top and engrailed, with a bluntly- 
 pointed base ; the other is flat but slightly engrailed, 
 and the rounded base somewhat broken b} the three 
 divisions, which evidently suggest that these shields 
 were curved round the body. But the old plain 
 heater continues as by far the most prevalent 
 shape throughout this century. It is usually 
 very square, and in several instances there is an 
 approach to the French base of Mr. Rylands* 
 nomenclature. 
 
 As already remarked, foot soldiers of all ages, 
 down to the middle of the eighteenth century, 
 appear with round shields. During this century 
 and the next these are shown with handsome 
 decorations, but never with heraldry on the face : 
 foot soldiers, perhaps, were not considered heraldi- 
 cally armigerous. In an Italian painting of this 
 century, foot soldiers are represented with square 
 and diamond shaped shields, each side shaped 
 out in curves ; and in one heraldry is painted ; 
 perhaps he was a dismounted knight and the 
 others only retainers. This may be seen engraved 
 in Jacquemart's History of Furniture^ p. 24 
 (see No. 60). 
 
 In many other shields at the end of this century 
 the heater shape has gradually arrived at what is 
 named square No. 7, and in the charter granted to 
 the waxchandlers, 1484 (see No. 61), and in many 
 other instances, these shields were very long in 
 proportion to their width. The same elongated 
 shape appears in a shield on Christ Church gate, 
 Canterbury, date 1517 ; engraved Archceologia^ 
 vol. xvi, p. 194. 
 
Plate IV. 
 
 /h^em 
 
 60 see Plate iii. 
 
 G£0 GRAZ£BROOf^ fSA.D^L. 
 
Mantlings, 39 
 
 flDantlinga. 
 
 The jfirst observed instance of a mantling or 
 lambrequin, as it was then called, — a term still 
 applied to it by the modern French heralds, — 
 occurs in the large seal of Ralph de Monthermer, 
 Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, 1299. This is 
 engraved in Nicholas Upton, De Usu Militari [Bisse 
 edition, 1654, p. 63]. In Planche's Poursiiivant 
 the helmet and mantling alone are engraved from 
 this seal. It is represented as a square handkerchief 
 or shawl fastened at one end under the crest, and 
 flying out loose behind. There is no hacking (see 
 No. 62). Ralph de Monthermer was a *' plain 
 esquire," but attracted the attention and secured 
 the love of Joan of Acres, daughter of Edward I. 
 and relict of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester. 
 May we be allowed to fancy we see here the 
 kerchief of the fair lady whose favour led to his 
 advancement, and whose marriage eventually 
 brought him his title ? His second wife was also 
 a widow, namely, the relict of John de Hastings 
 and sister of Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke. 
 
 In Planche's Ponrsnivant is engraved another 
 very similar, from the seal of Thomas, Earl of 
 LancavSter (see No. 63). He was beheaded 15 
 Edward II. (1321). This seems to be of some 
 thick material and bordered. It is better shown in 
 the full-sized engraving in Sandford's Genealogical 
 History, p. 102. Boutell {Heraldry, p. 212) describes 
 No. 64 as a '' contoise," and says it was used until 
 the middle of the fourteenth century. These seem 
 to have been stiff to stand out, but I have not found 
 representations of any more of them. Mr. Boutell 
 refers to two effigies showing them in Exeter 
 Cathedral, and another in Westminster Abbey. In 
 the seal of John de Tilneye to a deed, 1353 
 [engraved in the Visit. Hunts., p. 29], a voluminous 
 
40 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 and square folded mantling, without any hacks, is 
 extended out to the inscription on each side, and is 
 
 fixed under a broad-brimmed 
 hat which stands on the top 
 of the helm, and on this hat is 
 the crest, viz., a tree supported 
 by two lions gambs. There 
 is another instance on the 
 monument at Norton Brize, 
 Oxfordshire, to John Dauby g- 
 ne, 1346, where the mantling 
 is extended out square in folds, 
 without any hacking, and hangs 
 on each side of the helmet, while below is placed 
 the shield. This is engraved in Boutell's Heraldry, 
 p. 156 (see No. 65). Another such squarely-folded 
 and unbacked mantle is shown on the seal of 
 Elizabeth de Lucy, 1354, "^i^h a man's helmet 
 and crest (!!) — see No. 66 — and yet another in 
 that of Sir William de Lucy, 1392. Both of 
 these are engraved in Nicholas Upton, p. 73 
 (see No. 67). But these must all be taken as 
 rare exceptions. Usually mantlings of so early 
 a date as the fourteenth century are of very small 
 dimensions, hacked and lying close on their helmets, 
 clinging to them, as it were, and so fastened under 
 the crest that they could not hang otherwise. As 
 we see in the seal of Richard, Earl of Arundel, 
 about 1350-70 (illustrated at p. 27), also in the 
 seals of Sir Thomas Bysshe, 1381 [Nicholas Upton, 
 p. 53], see No. 68 ; and in that of John de Clinton, 
 1386 [Nicholas Upton, p. 82], see No. 6g ; but 
 seals of the fourteenth century more commonly 
 show no mantlings : they were only just beginning 
 to be introduced. 
 
 At the beginning of the fifteenth century the 
 same small hacked mantlings, hanging closely upon 
 their helmets, still continue, and become the rule ; 
 it was the exception to have any mantling at all in 
 
Mannings, 
 
 4^ 
 
 the fourteenth. About 1420, however, they begin 
 to spread over the field of the seal, in free and bold 
 curves and waves. In the seal of John, Lord 
 Clinton de Say, 1438 (No. 54), and in that of 
 Humphrey, Earl of Stafford and Perche, 1438, 
 both engraved Archceologia, vol. xxxviii, p. 272, 
 they are seen hacked, wandering away from the 
 helm, and half way down the shield. But a note- 
 worthy characteristic of the mantlings of this early 
 date, and one to which I must draw your particular 
 attention, is that, although stretching their arms 
 boldly about the field, and in MSS. where space 
 will allow, they may extend down below the base of 
 the shield, they are not, perhaps never, seen to 
 hide themselves behind it I The spirit of those old 
 times when the mantling would probably be the 
 gift of some fair lady, perhaps her kerchief or 
 mantle, and borne with chivalrous fervour through 
 the many adventures in which the knight of those 
 days sought to gain fame and experience — this spirit 
 of honouring the mantlet still remained burning 
 brightly ; a fold was therefore too precious to be 
 hidden behind the shield. When we come to 
 consider such decorations in 
 later times, when such senti- 
 ment had departed, you will 
 see why [beyond the valuable 
 indication of date supplied] 
 I have drawn your attention 
 particularly to this peculiarity 
 to be noted in the fifteenth 
 century. The seal of Thomas 
 Strange, 1419, shows a curi- 
 ous arrangement of mantling. 
 This is engraved in Miscell. 
 Genealogica ct Hemidica, 1884, p. 59. In the very 
 curious and interesting seal of Sir John Pelhani, 
 1469, engraved in ArchcBological Journal, vol. vii, 
 p. 323, and already illustrated on p. 32, the field of 
 
42 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 the seal is filled up with bold contortions of the 
 hacked mantling, while on the helmet appears the 
 most extraordinary crest — a large birdcage which 
 is higher than the helmet itself ; it is divided into 
 three tiers of wickerwork, and has a pointed roof, 
 while on the field appear two buckles. Sir John 
 Pelham, at Poictiers in 1356, personally assisted at 
 the capture of the French King, when the honorary 
 distinction of the buckle as a family badge was 
 accorded to him. His descendants sometimes used 
 the birdcage crest, in remembrance of the same 
 exploit and the imprisoned king. 
 
 In illuminations of this date, say of the latter 
 half of the fifteenth century, we see the same 
 characters — the mantlings so divided into narrow 
 ribbon-like folds, much hacked and twisted to 
 show the lining, and thrown out into bold arms 
 around the shield and extending some way below 
 it with fine artistic effect. I would refer to the 
 grant of arms to the Fellowship of Ironmongers 
 of London, ist September, 1455, already illustrated 
 on p. 35, also to the shield of Edward IV., 1460, 
 in Willement's Regal Heraldry. There are also 
 two beautiful specimens engraved in Boutell's 
 Brasses ; one, the stall plate at Windsor of Sir 
 Humphrey Stafford, K.G., 1460, at p. 219 (see 
 No. 70), and at p. 207 the brass of Sir William 
 Say, at Broxbourne, Herts, 1473 (see No. 71) : the 
 mantling in the last ends in four tassels ; this 
 addition of tassels becomes the ordinary usage in 
 the MS. illuminations and in grants of arms, but 
 not in seals of the sixteenth century. 
 
 I refer to No. 72 for the lithograph of that very 
 curious mantling carved in stone at Wyverton, 
 Nottinghamshire (Thoroton's History, p. 98), which 
 displays three tassels. This stands with two other 
 helmets, each over its respective shield of heraldry, 
 and on examination I am able to declare their date 
 to be about 1440-50. 
 
On early Torses. 43 
 
 Licence of free warren and to make a park here 
 was granted 24 Henry VI. (1445), at which time 
 Thoroton supposes this house was built. 
 
 Following our entirely different lines of enquiry, 
 I am able to state, to within twenty or thirty years, 
 the date of these carvings ; and I would further 
 say that as to one of the quarterings displayed, 
 the Chaworth family did not inherit the right to 
 bear it until 1422 ; thus confirming very exactly 
 Thoroton's date. 
 
 Perhaps the first appearance of a tassel on a 
 mantling is on a monument to — Harsyck in 
 Southacre Church, Norfolk, 1384 ; engraved in 
 Boutell's Heraldry^ plate i (see No. 73). This is 
 also interesting as being a very early example of 
 the wreath or torse which supports the crest, 
 consisting of a twisted cord of silk of two colours. 
 In a brass to Sir Hugh Hastings, at Rising, 
 CO. Norfolk, 1347, the same is shown. In the 
 effigy of Sir Richard Pembruge, 1375, now in the 
 nave of Hereford Cathedral, the crest and helmet 
 are attached with a wreath of leaves, above which 
 rises a great panache of feathers. 
 
 The earliest instance of a date upon the face of 
 a shield is said to occur about the middle of the 
 thirteenth century, but such are very uncommon 
 until the sixteenth century, when they are found 
 both on personal and official seals. 
 
 The inscriptions on English seals of this fifteenth 
 century are almost universally in Latin and in 
 Gothic lettering. I have, so far, only noted one 
 seal with Roman letters, and that occurs in 1403. 
 
 SIXTEENTH AND FOLLOWING CENTURIES. 
 
 Before entering upon our subject during this 
 period, it is necessary to consider the great changes, 
 social and legal, which passed over England from 
 say 1450 to the end of the reign of Henry VIII. 
 
 Events for thirty years before the accession of 
 
44 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields, 
 
 Henry VII. (1485) had been gradually reducing 
 the power of the nobility. Enactments had been 
 passed which facilitated the transfer of lands ; and 
 the disastrous wars of the Roses, in which the 
 blood of the nobility flowed like water, brought 
 also the dispersion of a large portion of their 
 estates, and the consequence was that when 
 Henry VII. began his reign, and the conflicts 
 between the rival Houses of York and Lancaster 
 were completely hushed [say 1485], he found 
 himself in possession of the sole power. The 
 great nobles who had hampered the actions of his 
 predecessors had disappeared from the scene. At 
 his first Parliament Henry VII. only summoned 
 twenty-eight peers ; and so gradually did this class 
 recover itself that we find at the first Parliament 
 of Henry VIII. only thirty-eight peers were 
 summoned to attend. 
 
 We can thus understand how those seals of 
 exceeding size and magnificence, which we found 
 prevailing during the middle and third quarter of 
 the fifteenth century, entirely disappear. The 
 greater nobility, as an assertion of their dignity 
 and importance, had then attached to their charters 
 seals of great pretensions, and gradually increasing 
 in size until, as Sandford [Genealogical History^ 
 p. 108] remarks of those of the Dukes of Lancaster, 
 they rivalled or even exceeded in size what were used 
 by the crown itself. Had their embarrassed affairs 
 allowed them to enter again into mutual rivalry, 
 the stern government of Henry VI I. would have 
 regarded such an assumption of dignity as treason to 
 the throne, and therefore we can fix the date 1485 for 
 the disappearance of such large and splendid seals. 
 Only occasionally do they continue to appear, and 
 within the limit of ten years after this time. 
 
 The landed gentry, the descendants in many 
 instances of a much earlier feudal aristocracy, had 
 suffered almost as much from the rivalries and 
 
Sixteenth and following Centuries. 45 
 
 conflicts which had devastated the country. They, 
 too, laboured under the same depression and 
 necessity for retirement ; and hence, if we take up 
 a bundle of deeds, say of the third quarter of the 
 fifteenth century, we shall find them loaded with 
 large and beautiful seals, while in a similar parcel, 
 dated early in the sixteenth, small bits of wax only 
 are found, many of them bearing one or more 
 initials, or a crest surrounded by a circle of large 
 dots, and the coats of arms, which do occur, are 
 altogether small and insignificant : in fact, personal 
 seals are now reduced in size to what may be 
 conveniently hung on a watch chain, or worn as 
 a somewhat large signet ring. I annex some 
 heraldic seals just to show what after this time are 
 looked upon as unusually fine. They are a very 
 great contrast to those we have been considering. 
 
 Robert Ap Rece, 
 
 Ivory Thumb-ring Signet of Francis, 5th Earl 1548. Engraved in 
 
 of Shrewsbury, 1545. ^Proceedings of Society of Visit, of Hunts, 161 3 
 
 Antiquaries, 22nd December, 1859.] [Camden Soc.]. p. 32. 
 
 Seal engraved by Thomas Simon Thomas Bate, of Ashby-de-la- 
 
 for Sir Edward Nicholas, Secretary Zouche ; born 1648, died 1707. 
 to Charles I., circa 1649. \Collect. 
 Gen, et Topog,^ vol. viii, p. 214.] 
 
46 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 But still further reasons have to be considered. 
 The ancient form of drawing charters was gradually 
 disappearing, which after declaring the transaction, 
 ended with the all-important seal, put on in the 
 presence of such responsible witnesses as could be 
 got together, and who were afterwards always to be 
 found to come forward and vouch for the transaction. 
 Writing also now, early in the sixteenth century, 
 was becoming much more common, and the sense 
 of the nation showed that a deed signed and sealed 
 by the parties was much more satisfactory than 
 any number of witnesses, the limit of whose 
 testimony was bounded by that of their lives. I am 
 only putting into few words what is ably pointed 
 out by Williams in his work on Real Property, 
 ed. 1882, p. 153, and by Blackstone in his Coinmen- 
 taries, ed. 1823, book ii, p. 305. But the curious 
 thing is that this change seems to have gradually 
 taken place without any enactment directing it. 
 The Statute of Frauds and Perjuries, 29 Charles II. 
 (1677-8, cap. 5), is the first instance where it- 
 is expressly declared by act of Parliament that all 
 devises of lands or tenements must be in writing 
 and signed by the party and three or four credible 
 witnesses. Such had already been occasionally 
 the practice for at least two hundred years, for 
 I find a deed of gift of Thomas Hoo to the Abbot 
 of the Monastery of Battle is thus established 
 ** Sigillum meum, una cum subscriptione propria 
 " manu et signo manuali apposito"; the date is 
 2ist September, 1480 [Thorpe's Battle Abbey Deeds, 
 1835, p. 124]. Occasional instances occur of the 
 old system of sealing only before a number of 
 witnesses, but after say 1520 the almost universal 
 method of executing deeds was by sign manual 
 and seal, and two or three attesting witnesses. 
 
 The earliest instance I have noticed of executing 
 a deed by sign manual is as above, in 1480. The 
 
Sixteenth and following Centuries. 47 
 
 latest which I have met with, in which the ancient 
 form of execution had been followed, is a charter 
 printed in the Salop Archaeological Society's vol. x, 
 p. 222 : — " Thomas Scriven, armig., grants a yearly 
 *' payment of 8/ sterling out of his meadow at 
 " Coleham, juta sive prope Ville Salop, hiis testibus 
 "&c. &c., dat. Salop 25th Sept., 10 Henry VIII., 
 '' 1518 "; but probably yet later instances may be 
 found. 
 
 The further reason, lying at the root of the 
 whole matter, was the wonderful expansion of trade, 
 wealth, and intelligence which broke upon England 
 at this time, — the English renaissance, as it is 
 called, and which culminated in the brilliant 
 company of poets and authors of Elizabeth's reign. 
 Following upon the breaking-up of the old nobility, 
 and the resumption of peace at home, wealth was 
 rapidly accumulated by many self-made men, and 
 by many younger sons of old families, who entered 
 into trade. These purchased lands and became the 
 county gentry. So expansive was this spirit of trade, 
 that ancient towns like York, Chester, Lancaster, 
 Coventry, and Lincoln, where long-established 
 guilds restricted trading to the burghers alone, 
 fell off in population and importance, while new 
 districts without such restrictions, such as Man- 
 chester and Birmingham, as rapidly increased. In 
 an act, 33 Henry VIII., c. 15 [1541], it is stated 
 that the people of Manchester were then ** well set 
 ''to work in making of cloths, as well of linen 
 "as of woollen, whereby the inhabitants of the 
 "said town have gotten and come into riches and 
 " wealthy livings : and by reason of great occupying, 
 " good order, strict and true deahng of the inhabi- 
 " tants of the said town, many strangers, as well of 
 " Ireland as of other places, had resorted thither." 
 
 Over all this boiling-up of busy-ness sat Henry VI I . 
 and Henry VIII., as almost irresponsible sovereigns, 
 
48 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 and out of it grew the Commons of England ! 
 The population meantime increased with wonderful 
 strides. In 1377 the population of England and 
 Wales did not exceed 2,500,000. By the military 
 musters, taken 1574-5, there were 1,172,674 of 
 able men for service, which it is estimated would 
 give a total population of about 4,700,000. This 
 astonishing revolution of trade and learning is so 
 remarkable that I must quote a portion of what old 
 Harrison says on the changes he had noticed 
 within fifty years. His most curious Description of 
 Britain was printed with Hollingshed's Chronicle in 
 1586, but was probably written some ten years 
 earlier : an exacter date I have not yet been able to 
 fix. " There are old men yet dwelling in the 
 " village where I remaine which have noted three 
 " things to be marvellouslie altered in England 
 '^ within their sound remembrance : and other three 
 " things too, too much increased. One is the mul- 
 " titude of chimnies latelie erected, whereas in their 
 '' young daies there were not abouve two or three, 
 " if so many, in most uplandish townes of the 
 " realme [the religious houses and manor places of 
 '' their lords alwaies excepted, and peradventure 
 " some great personages], but eche one made his 
 *' fire against a reredosse in the haull where he 
 ^* lived and dressed his meat ; secondly, the bedding 
 " [now feathers and comfort, &c.,then straw or wood 
 ** only, &c.] ; thirdly, the exchange of vessells as of 
 *' treene platters into pewter, and wooden spoones 
 '' into silver or tin. So common were all sorts of 
 '' treene stuff in old time, that a man should 
 " hardlie find four pieces of pewter [of which one 
 ^* was peradventure a salt] in a good farmer's 
 '' house, &c., &c., &c. Whereas, in my time, 
 '' altho' peradventure £^ of old rent be improved to 
 *' ;f40, £^0 or ;irioo, yet will the farmer, as another 
 *' palm or date tree, think his gaines verie small 
 
Plate V. 
 
 76Pd^e S7. 
 
 y/Z'd^e ^£ 
 
 
 72 see Plate iv. 
 
 Gso. 6ffAZ£B/fooK ^SJ. Det. 
 
Evidences for the Sixteenth Century. 49 
 
 '' toward the end of his term if he have not six or 
 ** seven years' rent Heng by him, therewith to 
 *^ purchase a new lease, besides a faire garnish of 
 '^ pewter on his cupbord, with so much more in od 
 " vessell going about the house, three or four 
 '' feather bedds, so many coveriids and carpets of 
 ** tapistrie, a silver salt, a bowle for wine [if not 
 " an whole neast], and a dozzen of spoones to 
 " furnish up the sute." 
 
 But, alas, there is another side to all this national 
 prosperity. From this time, also, agriculturists — 
 required in fewer numbers under the new styles of 
 cultivation (which aimed at grazing and the pro- 
 duction of wool) — crowded into the towns in hope 
 of work, and large portions of the population began 
 to sink into the lowest depths of poverty. 
 
 In our researches as to the shapes of shields we 
 have now, therefore, lost that rich body of evidence 
 supplied by the seals on charters, which extended 
 to nearly the end of the fifteenth century, and the 
 MS. pictures of knights and tournaments. The 
 evidences now available consist of pedigrees, the 
 smaller heraldic seals attached to documents and 
 deeds, heraldic visitations and grants of arms, 
 printed books on heraldry, which begin 1496, 
 stained glass, the stone carvings on buildings, 
 tombs, and ledger stones, and, from the end of the 
 seventeenth century or a little earlier, book-plates. 
 Coins, too, now prove of some value to us, showing 
 what were prevailing types of shields. 
 
 But inasmuch as there were no shields actually 
 in use, the shapes prevailing now became entirely 
 a matter of fashion and taste. Randle Holme 
 prints sixty-five varieties of shields, and remarks 
 (p. 10 in his Academy of Armoury^ Chester, 
 1688) : — '' But [as to the former shield] so to 
 "this, a question may be made, whether such 
 ** an one was used by him, or only the invention 
 
 E 
 
50 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 '' of the cutter ? If so, then the shapes and forms 
 " of shields, targets, and bucklers would be as 
 *' many as carvers, stone cutters, engravers, and 
 ''painters please." Gerard Legh gets the credit 
 of having greatly multiplied, in his Accedens of 
 Armoury^ 1562, the fanciful shapes of shields ; and 
 later writers on heraldry seem to have followed 
 him. [Herald and Genealogist^ vol. i, p. 191.] But 
 an examination of the Wappenbiich, published in 
 Germany in the sixteenth and seventeenth centu- 
 ries, and similar heraldic drawings of Italian 
 coats, have opened out to me a vastly wider field 
 for variety than old Randle Holme ever supposed. 
 I have before me a copy of Virgil Solis, which was 
 pubHshed at Nurnberg in 1555. This contains 
 hundreds of coats, in shields of an endless variety 
 of shapes and great boldness of design ; and when 
 we come to critically compare these shields with 
 one another, we discover that their outlines depend 
 upon the charges ! These were first laid down 
 with grotesque boldness, and the outline of the 
 shield to bear them was then drawn around them, 
 to the artist's fancy of what best suited the 
 bearings and would most reduce the amount of 
 empty field. This is, after all, only reversing the 
 ancient method, where a lion was distorted to suit 
 a pointed heater ; and it is suggested that a pale, 
 for a similar reason, might sometimes be pointed 
 into a pile. With this revelation from Virgil Solis, 
 we can detect that the same method of designing 
 prevails elsewhere. We must therefore multiply 
 Randle Holme's carvers, stone cutters, engravers, 
 and painters by the possible variety of their 
 fancies, and then multiply the quotient by the 
 number of all the heraldic bearings — plus all the 
 positions and forms they maybe made to assume — if 
 we wish to arrive at the variety of shields possible 
 during the period we are now about to consider. 
 
On the Size of Seals, Sixteenth Century, 51 
 
 In deference to this unanswerable position, I 
 find it necessary to alter entirely the classification 
 pursued in the earlier centuries — to take Mr. 
 Rylands' drawings seriatim, and to give for each 
 shape the earliest and latest dates at which, in my 
 limited researches, I have found them in use. This 
 method of treatment eliminates from our enquiry 
 all strictly fanciful shields which did not gain a 
 hold on public taste, and leaves us still with a 
 sufficiently heavy list of variations to which it is 
 possible, from their frequent recurrence, to attach 
 the dates. 
 
 A few leading remarks on points bearing on our 
 subject will prove useful at this stage of our enquiry. 
 
 Before watches became common, seals were 
 sometimes attached to the arms, like bracelets. 
 In Merairius Rusticus, No. 30 (for ig/20 July, 
 1660), an advertisement appears for '' a gold seal, 
 *' being a coat of arms, cut in a piece of gold, in 
 " the form of a lozenge, fastened to a black 
 '' ribband to tye about the wrist." In the Visita- 
 tion of Essex, i6j4 [Harleian Society, p. 455], 
 appears the following certificate: — '* This coate is 
 "- certifified by Thomas Scott to bee by him seen 
 *' on a scale some 40 years since, and to be the 
 *' scale of armes of Thomas Moore Esq. father of 
 ** the said Hunting Moore, and that Robert Scott 
 *' his father did weare the same about his neck in 
 ^* a scarffe about xx yeares — in witnes whearof 
 ** I have sett to my hand Tho. Scott." [Robert 
 Scott had married Anne, daughter of Richard 
 Hunting and relict of Thomas Moore, of Orsett, 
 CO. Essex.] This seal was, of course, a ring. 
 
 Watches, which naturally suggest small attached 
 seals, were, however, in pretty general use in 
 Queen Elizabeth's reign. In Shakespeare's Twelfth 
 Night, Malvolio says : — *' I frown the while, and 
 ** perchance wind up my watch, or play with some 
 
 E z 
 
52 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields, 
 
 *^ rich jewel." A watch was found upon Guy 
 Fawkes, 3 James I. (1605/6), which he and Percy 
 had bought the day before, " to try conclusions for 
 '' the long and short burning of the powder." — 
 Stow's Chronicle^ p. 878, and introduction to Mr. 
 Reuben Burrow's Almanac for 1778. 
 
 LINES FOR TINCTURES. 
 
 The first English examples of seals with lines in 
 the engraving, to indicate the tinctures, are said to 
 be on some of those attached to the death warrant 
 • of Charles I., 1648-g [Planche's Pnrsidvant of A mis'] . 
 Now, as this system was unquestionably first 
 devised by Father Silvester de Petra Sancta — whose 
 two books, L' Armorial on la Science dn Blason, 4to, 
 and Soimiaire Armorial, 4to, were both published in 
 Paris 1638 — it seems curious that within ten years 
 we should find such conventional lines in use in 
 England ; and it follows, also, that such of these 
 seals as were so treated in 1648 must all have been 
 recently cut ! A diagram, showing the colours so 
 indicated, is given by Sir Edward Bysse in his 
 edition of Nicholas Upton's work, De Usu Militari, 
 published in 1654. The earlier works on heraldry, 
 which I have been able to consult, have the illustra- 
 tions in somewhat rough wood blocks — it would have 
 been difficult and expensive at that time to have got 
 finer work in wood ; but we must remember that 
 Sylvanus Morgan, in his Armilogia, published 1666, 
 refers to Silvester de Petra Sancta's Epistles, and 
 elaborately describes — as if they were something 
 quite startling and new — why the several conven- 
 tional lines were selected. John Gibbon, in his 
 Introductio ad Latinam Blazoniam, published London 
 1682, p. 152, says, " for the distinction of colours 
 in arms [which was devised by the Rev. Father 
 S. de Petra Sancta] ," and he (Gibbon) frames 
 some Latin verses for the better remembering 
 
Lines to show Heraldic Tinctures. 53 
 
 thereof ; but in the woodcuts which adorn his book 
 he does not follow the system which he recom- 
 mends. The earliest English book which shows 
 them in the copper plate engravings is Bysse's 
 edition of Nicholas Upton, pubHshed, as already 
 noticed, in 1654. ^ ^^ aware that Boutell, in his 
 Heraldry^ chap, v, says that such lining may be 
 occasionally found before 1630. Now there seems 
 no manner of doubt as to the inventor ; and any 
 references with dates, which Mr. Boutell could 
 have given, would have been valuable indeed ! At 
 present we are involved in a paradox : if Father 
 Silvester invented the idea ; did he discuss it for 
 years, perhaps before committing it to print, and 
 having his own beautiful copper plate illustrations 
 so drawn in 1638 ? I point out this interesting 
 question. Any instance of a seal or engraving so 
 treated with the proper lines to represent tinctures 
 and occurring before 1638 should be carefully noted 
 with the exact dates ; and I venture to think any 
 such solitary instance would prove to be purely 
 accidental. The seal of Sir Edward Nicholas, 
 secretary to Charles II, engraved for him by the 
 celebrated Thomas Simon, does not show any 
 tincture lines (see the woodcut at p. 45). In this 
 seal the second and third quarters are the paternal 
 arms of Nicholas, while in the first and fourth are 
 displayed that honourable augmentation granted 
 to Sir Edward in 1649. We may safely conclude 
 that this seal was cut immediately after he received 
 that distinction. Particulars of Sir Edward's 
 career may be learned from Manning and Bray's 
 History of Surrey, vol. iii, p. 40 ; also from Hoare's 
 South Wiltshire, p. 88. He was Secretary to 
 Charles I., followed Charles II. into exile, and was 
 continued by him in his post of Secretary. He 
 eventually returned with him, and died in i66g, 
 at the age of seventy-seven. 
 
54 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 I regret I have never had the opportunity to 
 examine for myself the original death-warrant 
 which was carried out on that chill thirtieth day 
 of January, 1648-g ; and so I am not able to say 
 with exactness which of the seals show tincture 
 lines, as it is said they do. 
 
 Cbaplete or Mreatbe. 
 
 About the end of the fifteenth century, arms are 
 frequently found surrounded by a wreath of laurel 
 or bay leaves, usually, at this date, divided into four 
 parts by ribbands. Menestrier gives the date 1480 
 as the earliest instance he has found [his most 
 learned works seem too little known by English 
 heralds : the Origine des Armoiries was published 
 in Paris 1679, and the Origine des Ornemens des 
 Armoiries in Paris 1680]. We see an example in 
 the tomb of Margaret, Countess of Richmond, 
 1509, in Westminster Abbey (engraved Sandford's 
 Genealogical History, 1677, p. 326) — see No. 74. 
 We find similar wreaths or garlands in Sylvanus 
 Morgan's Sphere of Gentry, published 1661, vol. i, 
 p. 22, and vol. ii, p. 68 ; and engravings of several 
 fanciful varieties are also there given. Wreaths of 
 olive, formed of two branches tied at the top and 
 bottom with ribbands, appear several times sur- 
 rounding coats of arms in W. Hollar's beautiful 
 engravings in Thoroton's History of Nottinghamshire, 
 published 1677 (see pages 199, 200, 203, 310, 486 
 and 487). 
 
 After a while, such wreaths were frequently 
 introduced in the outer edge surrounding official 
 and also personal round seals, and so arranged 
 that they more resemble bell-shaped flowers of 
 three leaves (like the side view of blue bells), 
 and without any dividing ribbands. The annexed 
 wood-cut of the Statute Merchants' seal of Carlisle, 
 1670, will show this. This seal was in two 
 
Wreaths and Palm Branches. 
 
 55 
 
 halves to be kept in separate custody, and when 
 used, these were screwed together into a handle to 
 make it complete before affixing to any deed. The 
 
 seal and handle are here shown from the engraving 
 in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, 
 i6th May, i88g. Throughout the eighteenth 
 century, the blue bell ornament appears in corpo- 
 rate seals, and book-plates about 1800 are found 
 surrounded by such oval bell-flowered wreaths. 
 
 palm Brancbee* 
 
 Menestrier [Originc dcs Ornemens, published 1680] 
 writes : — " Now [aitjourd'hui] persons of quality, 
 " particularly married ladies [femmes] , place two 
 " palms together on the escutcheon of their arms, 
 *' which makes an agreeable ornament, and is, at the 
 ** same time, the symbol of conjugal love, which the 
 '* ancients have represented by the palms, male and 
 " female." The earliest instance I have noted in 
 England is on the cups of Sir E. B. Godfrey, who 
 died in 1678 [engraved in Gentleman's Magazine^ 
 1848, and in Topographer and Genealogist, vol. ii, 
 p. 467]. They occur beneath a shield of Bridge- 
 man, Bart, (the plain arms not impaled), in 
 Sandford's Genealogical History, 1677, p. 228 ; also 
 
56 
 
 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 on a monumental slab, 1671, engraved in Miscell. 
 Genealogica et Heraldica, 1884, vol. i, p. 151. About 
 1765 we see two palms extensively used as decora- 
 tions below Georgian shields (see the plates in 
 Dugdale's Warwickshire, 1765 ; Hasted's Kent, 
 1778; Rudd&v's Gloucestershire, lyyg; and Hutchin's 
 Dorsetshire, 1774). Such are extensively seen 
 throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- 
 turies, and were frequently painted, as a pleasing 
 decoration, below the arms on carriage panels, 
 almost to our own times. But they must have 
 
 lost the original 
 symbolism, for they 
 occur constantly on 
 ledger tombs [see 
 Miscell. Genealogica 
 et Heraldica, Mar., 
 1885, p. 233; dated 
 i6g6J , and must 
 then refer to the 
 resurrection life. 
 They are found in 
 book-plates in the 
 middle of the eigh- 
 teenth century, and 
 continue down to 
 1800 or later. The 
 ledger tomb to 
 Ashley Palmer and 
 his wife at Hawstead, dated 1792, shows a 
 pleasing example. This engraving is from Miscell. 
 Genealogica et Heraldica, 1885, p. 307. 
 
 Supportere. 
 
 It is hard to say when we may so name the 
 grotesque animals, which first appeared to fill up 
 the fields in seals even earlier than the fourteenth 
 
On the origin of Supporters. 57 
 
 century — see that of Ralph de Monthermer, Earl 
 of Gloucester and Hertford, 1299 [engraved, 
 Nicholas Upton, edition 1654, p. 63] , and several 
 of those attached to the Baron's letter, 1301 
 [Monumcnta Vetusta^ vol. i). These gradually, as 
 the fourteenth century progresses, assume an 
 appearance on seals exactly corresponding with 
 our modern supporters. We have " S' Fratris 
 Thome Archer," 1325 (Nicholas Upton, p. 73), 
 supported by two lions rampant counter-regardant 
 (see No. 75) ; " Sigillum Petri de Veel," 1361 (on 
 the same page) supported by two helmets with 
 panaches, very similar to those of Edmund de 
 Arundel still earlier 1301, given on p. 23, and 
 Edmund Mortimer, 1372, engraved on p. 26 ; and 
 we have two griffins supporting the helmet in the 
 seal of Richard, Earl of Arundel, 1330-75, see p. 27. 
 In the next century, supporting animals appear on 
 many of the large and beautiful seals : two grey- 
 hounds in that of John, Lord Clinton de Say, 1438 
 (see No. 54) ; two horses in that of John, Earl of 
 Arundel, 1415-21 (see Herald and Genealogist^ vol. ii, 
 P- 55) 5 t^o heraldic antelopes support the crCvSt 
 of Humfrey, Earl of Stafford and Perche, 1438 
 [Archa'ologia, vol. xxxviii, p. 273) ; and many others 
 might be quoted. It is quite impossible to say 
 when we may begin to call such decorative adjuncts 
 "supporters." Planche {Pursuivant, p. 177) says 
 that at the close of the fourteenth century, in one 
 instance, Richard II. (1377) used two white harts, 
 his favourite badge, as supporters ; but that those 
 of Henry VI. (1422) are considered to begin the 
 Royal series. In France, one supporter is fre- 
 quently seen and is then called a " tenant." In 
 Scotland, where French influence is in many ways 
 visible, we frequently meet with seals where a 
 vsingle tree, man, bird, fabulous beast, &c., &c., 
 supports the shield of arms. Menestrier [Origine 
 
58 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields, 
 
 des OrnemenSy p. 93] traces many of these grotesque 
 animals to the attendants at tournaments who 
 paraded in such disguises, carrying the shields and 
 weapons of the knights. 
 
 Supporters also occur in illuminations and 
 carvings, and not being then confined within the 
 narrow sphere of a seal, they stand much as in 
 modern drawings — see the arms of Edward IV., 
 1460, in Willement's Regal Heraldry ; also the 
 carving on the Founder's pew in North Witham 
 Church, CO. Lincoln, being the arms and supporters 
 of Sir Thomas de la Laund, 1470 {Archceological 
 Journal^ vol. ii, p. 87). 
 
 From the above remarks it will be seen that no 
 datings, at any rate in the earlier centuries, can be 
 deduced from the presence of supporters ; indeed, 
 there are instances of stone carvings on dwellings, 
 in which it seems to me that the cutter, as in early 
 seals, has added supporters merely to beautify his 
 design and balance his shield, without any heraldic 
 intention or authority whatever. Heraldry was a 
 " mystery " as well as a science, and if the cutter 
 had placed supporters, when decorating the mansion 
 of a neighbouring lord, he might, in the same way, 
 balance his desig^n on the house of some obscure 
 
 gentleman. 
 
 fIDottoee. 
 
 Called in French " Devises" or, when of ancient 
 origin, " Cri de guerre." Menestrier {Origine des 
 Orncmens) traces such to very ancient, even Roman, 
 times. These arose from various circumstances, 
 often accidental and frivolous, and as fresh mottoes 
 were frequently assumed by English families, it is 
 sometimes possible to establish an approximate date 
 by discovering when the accompanying motto was 
 adopted. 
 
Helmets in the Sixteenth Century, 59 
 
 Ibelmete, 
 
 sometimes, on early seals and carvings, are 
 valuable as indications of date and examples of the 
 types then prevalent ; but, in other and later 
 instances, they seem to be fancifully treated, and 
 so would not be reliable. They form too large a 
 subject for discussion here, and one that has been 
 most ably and exhaustively treated in works on 
 Armour. 
 
 I now proceed to consider the shapes as sketched, 
 taking the several numbers by the groups into 
 which they naturally fall. Many more instances 
 might have been quoted for the various shapes, but 
 I have selected these to show, so far as I have been 
 able to gather them, the extreme range of dates. 
 
 Perhaps I may venture here to remark that the 
 search for ancient shapes of shields, with a view to 
 their slavish reproduction, which is now so usual, 
 does not seem to have been so prevalent before 
 about the year 1840. This is the date which seems 
 generally accepted as that when originality in the 
 matter of seals and book-plates ceased, and every 
 variety of old examples began to be sedulously 
 searched out and copied. 
 
 All of these shields are subject to slight variations 
 of outline, according to the fancy of the artist and 
 their necessary adaptation to their surroundings. 
 
 No. 8 in the accompanying plate of shapes 
 appears in stained glass to the memory of Sir 
 Wm. Berdwell (will, dated 1434), Blomefield's 
 Norfolk^ vol. i, p. 203. 
 
 An Irish instance, but of very ungraceful pro- 
 portions, date 1507, is engraved ArchcBological 
 Journal^ vol. xv, p. 188. 
 
 It also occurs in the mantelpiece at Helmdon, 
 Northants, 1533 ; described in A rchcBologia, vol. xiii, 
 plate 12. 
 
6o Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 Nos. 9, lo, II, and 12 all occur on the beautiful 
 monument to Abbot Thomas Ramrage, in St. 
 Alban's Cathedral, — of the date 1529 ; Boutell's 
 Heraldry^ p. 357. Engravings of which may also 
 be frequently found elsewhere. 
 
 No. 10 occurs in a small signet seal, two impres- 
 sions of which are attached 
 as a counterseal to a lease 
 by the Priory of Dartford, 
 CO. Kent, bearing date 24th 
 December, 1529. This seal- 
 ing on the back rendered it 
 impossible to detach the 
 large wax seal and apply it 
 fraudulently to another do- 
 cument. This is engraved 
 Proceedings of the Society 
 of Antiquaries^ 27th May, 
 
 1875- 
 
 Occurs also in a brass, 
 Okeover impaling Aston, 
 date 1520 (Boutell's 5mss£'5, 
 p. 127), see No. 75. 
 
 Also in another brass, at 
 Sprouston, Norfolk, dated 1559. 
 
 No. II occurs without the bouche on a chimney- 
 piece at the Episcopal Palace, Exeter, i486. 
 
 With the bouche, in the Ramrage Chantry, 
 St. Alban's Abbey, of about the same date (Boutell's 
 Heraldry, p. 98). 
 
 Also in heraldic drawings of 1536, in Willement's 
 Regal Heraldry. 
 
 No. 12, but without the bouche, occurs in 
 Henry VII. 's chapel {ArchcEologia, vol. xvi, p. 194. 
 
 The annexed engraving shows a most interesting 
 knightly shield of the Schutz family, of Shotover, 
 CO. Oxford, dating from the fifteenth century. It is 
 2 feet 8 inches long by i foot ij inches broad, and 
 
The Earliest and Latest Dates noticed. 
 
 6i 
 
 was, when Mr. Hewitt wrote his book, in the 
 possession of the Rev. J. Wilson, President of 
 Trinity College, Oxford. It is engraved and 
 described. Ancient Arms and Armour^ vol. ii, p. 496. 
 
 It will be remembered that John of Gaunt's 
 shield, described at p. 29, very closely resembles 
 No. 12. 
 
 Nos. 13, 14, and 15. 
 
 No. 13 is shown in the seal of the Free School 
 of Richmond, Yorkshire, founded 1535-6 (Gale's 
 Registrnm Honoris de Richmond^ p. 254). 
 
 In an old engraving, showing Henry VIII. and 
 his Parliament, in Hall's Chronicle, published 1548, 
 a shield of this shape appears on the curtain 
 extending behind the throne. 
 
 No. 14 — In a heraldic drawing, 1558, of the arms 
 of Elizabeth, in Had. MS. 6096, three of these 
 shields are grouped (Willement's Regal Heraldry). 
 
 Annexed engraving of an enamelled plaque, 
 supposed to have formed 
 originally the centre of 
 a large salver or dish, is 
 taken from Proceed. Soc. 
 Antiq., 7th Dec, 1876, 
 and shows our shield 
 No. 14 with the date 
 1563. Sir Thomas Bell 
 died in 1566 ; he was 
 thrice Mayor of the City 
 of Gloucester, and also 
 represented it in Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 A Scotch seal, Francis Earl of Bothwell, 1587 
 (engraved Herald and Genealogist, vol. iv, p. 19). 
 
 Another Scotch seal, the Earl of Eglinton, 1620 
 (engraved Herald and Genealogist, vol. iv, p. 18). 
 
62 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 Engravings in The English Baronetage^ ^74^^ show 
 the same. 
 
 Also in Principal Historical and Allusive Arms, 
 by De la Motte, 1803, which work, indeed, aims at 
 variety in its shapes and designs. 
 
 No. 15 — In the printer's mark of Ant. du Ry, 
 of Leyden, 1525. 
 
 In the shield of Anne Bullen, 1533 (Willement's 
 Regal Heraldry) . 
 
 Also a seal, 1575, Miscell. Genealogica, vol. ii, 
 p. 170. 
 
 These shapes lend themselves particularly to 
 decorations in stained glass, where variations may 
 be constantly found, but it is generally difficult in 
 such cases to give an exact date. 
 
 From all which it appears that these shapes — 
 Nos. 13 to 15 — began about 1520, and prevailed 
 till about the third quarter of the sixteenth century; 
 and from their beautiful outlines, they occasionally 
 are used even to the present day. During the 
 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries they may often 
 be found hacked and scrolled. 
 
 No. 16 occurs in a monument to Raynes, i68g 
 (engraved in Drake's Eboracinn, p. 515). 
 
 This is a shape which would lend itself peculiarly 
 to monuments or stained glass. 
 
 The shields engraved in Chauncey's History of 
 Hertfordshire, 1700, are of this shape, slightly 
 eared, and very slightly hollowed out in the sides. 
 
 Nos. 17 and 18. — In these a decidedly German 
 influence is visible. 
 
 They occur in the German book of Virgil Solis, 
 1555. 
 
The Earliest and Latest Dates noticed. 63 
 
 The earliest English instance of No. 17 which 
 I have noticed appears in the Visit. Hunts, i6ij 
 (Camden Society), p. 4, with the arms of Clifton, 
 but no exact date is attached. 
 
 In the 1724 edition of Guillim's Display similar 
 shields are engraved, with scroll work round the 
 edges. 
 
 Nos. ig, 20, 21, and 22. 
 
 No. 19 is found on the tomb of Margaret, 
 Countess of Richmond, in Westminster Abbey, who 
 died 1509 (Sandford's Genealogical History, p. 326), 
 see No. 73. 
 
 Again in a ledger tomb at Brent-eleigh, in memo- 
 ry of Mrs. 
 Sawyer, and 
 dated 1734 
 (Miscellanea 
 Genealogica 
 et Heraldica 
 for January, 
 1886). 
 
 Also in 
 the engra- 
 V i n g s in 
 Blomfield's 
 Norfolk, 
 1739, with 
 a shaped 
 base. 
 
 No. 20, 
 maybe seen 
 in stained 
 
 glass, in Grappenhall Old Rectory window, of date 
 about 1527. 
 
 Again in a brass in Antringham Church, Suffolk, 
 dated 1562. 
 
64 
 
 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields, 
 
 No. 21, a brass at St. Mary Quay, Ipswich, 1525 
 (Boutell's Brasses^ p. 132). 
 
 Also on a seal, 1575 (engraved, Miscell. Genea- 
 logica et Heraldica^ vol. ii, p. 170). 
 
 Also on a seal, 1578, in Oliver Vredius {Seals of 
 the Counts of Flanders). ^ 
 
 Again in a grant of arms, 1715 {MiscelL Genea- 
 logica et Heraldica, second series, vol. i, p. 188). 
 
 A ledger at Kelston churchyard, Gibbes quarter- 
 ing Harrington ^,^______ 
 
 and Snecott iWim'!?iiiT^^^Pmv«iiiiiTii:i<ni'\m''i" 
 
 1730 (engraved 
 in Miscellanea 
 Genealogica et 
 Heraldica f o r 
 Jan., 1884). 
 
 Thus show- 
 ing that its 
 present use so 
 extensively by 
 the College of 
 Arms is a re- 
 turn to an old 
 pattern exist- 
 ing at any rate 
 since 1509. 
 
 Shields very 
 similar occur 
 in The Ancient 
 Order of Prince 
 Arthur e^ pub- 
 lished by R. 
 Robinson, 
 1583 ; also in 
 Sylvanus Mor- 
 gan's Sphere of 
 Gentry y 1661 ; while the College of Arms shield No. 
 22 appears in the Great Seal of Edward VI., 1547. 
 
The Earliest and Latest Dates noticed. 65 
 
 This group, therefore, extends from about 1500 
 to the present day. 
 
 It is convenient to take Nos. 23 and 24 Stuart, 
 together with 25 and 26 the Georgian. 
 
 ]>wr 23, the annexed seal of Robert Greysbrooke 
 of Middleton, is appended to his will, dated ist 
 September, 1668, and printed Miscell. 
 Genealogica ct Heraldica for 1878. 
 
 It appears very constantly in seals 
 from about 16 10 to 1694. 
 
 The shape is used in Sir Peter 
 Leycester's Historical Antiquities of 
 Cheshire^ published in 1673. 
 
 Again in Sylvanus Morgan's Sphere of Gentry^ 
 published 1661. 
 
 No. 24 appears in stone carving at Penshurst 
 Place, Kent, showing the arms of Edward VI., 
 1547. The side points are curled round, and the 
 centre one is capped with a fillet and half globe : 
 an improvement by the stone cutter (Willement's 
 Regal Heraldry), see No. 77. 
 
 It is found in the seals and in the crown-pieces 
 of the Commonwealth, dated 1650. 
 
 Taking then the Georgian No. 25 — In Willement's 
 Regal Heraldry, the arms of Henrietta Maria, the 
 wife of Chas. I., 1625, are reproduced in this shape. 
 
 It becomes very frequent 1783-92, and up to 1806 
 in monuments and book-plates — see page 56. 
 
 The shield is used in a work published at 
 Worcester 1795, Historical Anecdotes of Heraldry 
 and Chivalry. 
 
 Very many of the bulky seals so common during 
 the last thirty years of the eighteenth century display 
 coats of arms on shields of this shape, which seems to 
 have been much used about this date. The Liverpool 
 halfpenny, 1791, see No. 78; the Leeds halfpenny, 
 1791 ; and the Cronebane halfpenny, 1789 ; and no 
 doubt many other copper tokens show No. 25. 
 
 F 
 
66 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 No. 26 is figured by Randle Holme [Academy 
 of Armoury^ 1688), who took it from Sylvanus 
 Morgan's Sphere of Gentry, 1661. He explains it 
 is from old and decayed monuments. It is really 
 adapted from ancient shields, which were used by 
 the Amazons, and they are constantly represented 
 with such shields and with double-headed battle 
 axes on Greek coins (see Petiti de Amazonibus 
 Dissertatio, 1687, p. 180, &c.) 
 
 The only change noticeable in these shields is 
 that the Stuart, which extended down to certainly 
 as late as 1694, have perpendicular sides, — with 
 an occasional exception, as that quoted 1625, — 
 while in the Georgian the sides are always more or 
 less bulged out. 
 
 Nos. 27, 28, 29, and 30, with which may conveni- 
 ently be taken the tops, designated ''eared couped." 
 
 No. 27 — This shape occurs in Brussels tapestry, 
 dated 1610. The sides are more hollowed-out, and 
 the ears more projected (Jacquemart's History of 
 Furniture, p. 102, English translation). 
 
 Very frequently in ledger tombs, 1718, 1749, 
 1750, and in 1680 (see Miscell. Genealogica et Heral- 
 dica, November, 1884, p. 172). 
 
 In a MS. dated 1710 ; 
 
 Also in the RadclifTe book-plate, circa 1720, 
 engraved in Mr. Rylands' Notes on Book-Plates, 
 1889, p. 30. 
 
 No. 28 — The arms of Caroline of Brandenburg, 
 wife of George II., 1727, are given on this shield 
 in Willement's Regal Heraldry. 
 
 No. 29 — Several of the engravings in Guillim's 
 Display, edition 1724, and in The English Baronetage, 
 1 741, partake of this character, thus giving a range 
 from 16 10 to 1 74 1 for this group. 
 
 No. 31 is a shield very extensively used in 
 Germany and Holland. 
 
The Earliest and Latest Dates noticed. 67 
 
 It first appears in the seals of the Counts of 
 Flanders (Oliver Vredius) in 1477 and 1487, and 
 disappears in 1602. 
 
 It is figured fo. i^ in the Nuremberg Chronicle, 
 published 1493. 
 
 It may be constantly found at all dates, and down 
 to the present day in German heraldry. 
 
 Nos. 32, 33, and 34. 
 
 No. 32 — This shield has a very extensive range 
 of date ; the first I have noticed is on the tomb 
 of Anne of Cleves, in Westminster Abbey, 1539 
 (engraved in Willement's Regal Heraldry). 
 
 Engravings in an illustrated edition of Ariosto, 
 printed Venetia, 1572, repeat the same shape. 
 
 In Bolton's Elements of Armories, 1610, where 
 such arms as those of Paracoussi, King of Plate, 
 The Navatalcas, early Mexicans, and the Incas of 
 Peru, are placed in such shields. 
 
 The sixpences and York half-crowns of Charles I., 
 1614, and the arms on his Great Seal, 1627 (Sand- 
 ford's Genealogical History, p. 515). 
 
 In a MS., 1652, reproduced in Miscell. Genea- 
 logica for January, 1885, p. 204. 
 
 The Great Seal of Charles II., 1653 (Sandford's 
 Genealogical History, Y^. ^ly). 
 
 The seals of the Commonwealth in 165 1 and 1656. 
 
 Engravings in Bisse's edition of Nicholas Upton, 
 published 1654 J 
 
 Also in Sandford's Genealogical History, 1677. 
 
 In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, 
 seals with this shape are common enough, many of 
 most beautiful execution, supported by cornucopice, 
 fruit and flowers issuant therefrom ; these extend 
 from 1670 to 1700. We need only look at our 
 Britannia's shield in a modern penny to see the 
 same, adapted from that coin of Antoninus Pius 
 where occurs the first representation of the figure 
 of Britannia, a.d. 138. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 No. 33. — The earliest I have noted is on the 
 seal of Sir Thomas de Bikenore, Knt., attached to 
 a charter, s.d.^ but about 1300 ; this is engraved 
 Archceolog. Cantiana^ vol. ii, p. 41. 
 
 It occurs upon the seals of the Counts of 
 Flanders from 1403 to 1623 (Oliver Vredius) ; it 
 also appear^ elsewhere in his work. 
 
 It is also on the tomb in Maidstone Church to 
 John Wotton, 1417 (Arch. Cantiana, vol. i, p. 181). 
 
 It may be seen in the printer's mark of Richard 
 Pynson, 1530. 
 
 I have also noticed No. 33 in one of Camden's 
 grants, dated 2nd May, 1608, to James Master of 
 East Landen, Kent : this is engraved ArchcBologia 
 Cantiana, vol. v, p. 238. 
 
 No. 34 is, I think, chiefly restricted to foreign 
 seals and engravings. I have not, so far, noticed 
 an English example. 
 
 Nos. 35, 42, and 43. 
 
 No. 35 — Egg-shaped may be regarded very much 
 as a variation of No. 32, some artists considering it 
 more graceful and better adapted to hold the arms 
 and leave less of the field vacant. The shield of 
 Edward the Black Prince, preserved at Canterbury, 
 and already noticed at p. 30, was of this shape. 
 He died 1376 (Bolton's Elements^ p. 67). 
 
 But there is a large number of such seals as may 
 be described egg-shaped, with hollowed-out sides, 
 and frequently framed in scrolls ; these are classed 
 as cardioid Nos. 42 and 43, the outlines having 
 been altered by scroll work, although sometimes 
 the scrolls are omitted. 
 
 These occur in Divi Britannici, by Sir Winston 
 Churchill, 1675 ; 
 
 In monuments of 1684, &c., in Blomefield's 
 Norfolk ; 
 
 And of i6gg, Miscell. Genealogica et Heraldica for 
 December, 1884, p. 185 ; 
 
The Earliest and Latest Dates noticed. 69 
 
 Again in 1715, Herald and Genealogist, vol. ii, 
 p. 230 ; and they are constantly to be found in 
 monumental tablets. 
 
 Very frequently the bases of shields with hol- 
 lowed-out sides are turned either to dexter or 
 sinister, as noticed in seals throughout the eigh- 
 teenth century ; and in some later Jacobean, and 
 in Chippendale book-plates say from 1720 to nearly 
 the end of the centurv. 
 
 Seal of Bartlett of Marldon and Seal of Joseph Palmer, King's 
 
 Exeter, co. Devon {Miscell. Genea- Messenger: born 1683, died 1759 
 logica et Heraldica for June, 1887). {Miscell. Genealogica et Heraldica^ 
 
 second series, vol. i, p. 86). 
 
 Seal of Michael Grazebrooke of Seal of Joseph Sike" to his will, 
 
 Audnam : born 1723, died 1766 \'jif^ {Herald and Crefirologist, vo\.m, 
 {Miscell. Gen. et Heraldica for 1878), p. 316 ; also vol. vi, ;- 211. 
 
 No. 36 — French shields, so constantly represented 
 in French heraldry, appear also in English grants 
 of arms, 1557, 1561, 1582, 1612. 
 
 This is just an ordinary square shield. No. 7, 
 with a pointed French base. 
 
 This shield, however, may be found at much 
 earlier dates — see remarks on Simon de Montacute's 
 seal to the Baron's letter, 1301, on p. 22 ; also the 
 
70 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 very curious brass formerly in St. Nicholas' Church, 
 Lynn, to Thomas Waterdeyn, Mayor of Lynn in 
 1397 and 1404. This shows two shields, No. 36, 
 which bear his merchant's mark, and stand on 
 either side of a tree. He was alive in 1410 (see 
 engraving, ArchcBologia, vol. xxxix, p. 505). 
 
 No. 39. — This curious Italian shield occurs in 
 Gerard Leigh's Accedens of Ar?notiry, 1562. 
 
 Also with curious scroll-work, dated 1589, in a 
 timber house at Norwich, engraved, Archceologia, 
 vol. xvi, p. 194. 
 
 In the Great Seal of Charles L, 1640, Sandford's 
 Genealogical History^ p. 516. 
 
 In the halfpenny of Charles II., 1660. 
 
 In the halfpenny of James II., 1685. 
 
 Randle Holme, book i, p. 6, would have us 
 believe this was "the veritable shape of the Christal 
 " shield given by the goddess Minerva to Perseus, 
 " to enable him to slay the Gorgon Medusa, and 
 " which was after dedicated to Pallas," and this 
 conceit may account for a monster's head introduced 
 in the Great Seal of Charles I., 1640. 
 
 Grotesque shields, somewhat of this shape, are 
 given to Ancient Britons, as in Speed's Theatre of 
 Great Britain^ 1676, and in MS. pedigrees of early 
 seventeenth century, for the arms of Welsh princes 
 and early potentates. Randle Holme [Academy of 
 Armoury) gives one of these as from the monument 
 of Mahomet, Emperor of Turkey, and another from 
 the monument of Tamerlane, Emperor of Tartaria. 
 
 Nos. 40 and 41 actually do occur frequently in 
 Roman bronzes and monuments, and are repro- 
 duced in engravings in Bolton's Elements of A nnories^ 
 1610, p. 147, &c. Bolton explains that it (41) occurs 
 on the Column to Antoninus at Rome, but later 
 discoveries have shown that this column was really 
 erected to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus in 174 a.d. 
 
The Earliest and Latest Dates noticed. 
 
 71 
 
 Nos. 42 and 43 cardioid shields (see the remarks 
 upon 33, 34 and 35). — I think these arose from the 
 decorative scroll- 
 work placed 
 around egg- 
 shaped shields, 
 and especially in 
 late Jacobean 
 and Chippendale 
 times, when they 
 may be found in 
 monuments and 
 book-plates. The 
 earliest mural 
 tablet I have 
 noticed is dated 
 i6gg, at Winches- 
 ter Cathedral. 
 This is engraved 
 Miscellanea Genea- 
 logica et Heraldica for December, 1884, p. 185. 
 
 The engravings in Divi Britannici, noticed under 
 the variations of 35, nearly approach these. 
 
 Instances of pure heart-shaped shields occur in 
 the brass to Willem Wenemaer, slain 1325. This 
 
 is in the vestibule to the 
 hospital which he founded at 
 Ghent {ArchcEological Jour- 
 nal^ vol. vii, p. 287) ; 
 
 Also in a monument at 
 St. Margaret's, Hertford, 
 i6gi -2, shown in the annexed 
 illustration. This is from 
 Miscell. Geneal. et Heraldica^ 
 January, 1887, p. 197 ; and 
 the shape may also be found 
 at later dates. 
 
72 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields, 
 
 My readers will also refer to that very interesting 
 seal of Richard Basset, about 1145, described at 
 p. 13, and No. 44 : it is heart-shaped, greatly 
 lengthened out. 
 
 A very curious heart-shaped shield, with the point 
 turned round and scrolled, appears in the wooden 
 effigy to one of the family of Oglander in Brading 
 Church, Isle of Wight. This is supposed to be of 
 sixteenth century. It is engraved in the Anastatic 
 Drawing Society's vol. for 1883. 
 
 A curious instance of the recrudescence of early 
 forms occurs when Sylvanus Morgan, vol. i, p. 27, 
 places the arms of one Gill in a triangular shield, 
 such as we noticed in the thirteenth century, and 
 figured No. i in the sheet. 
 
 Again, heater-pear shields. No. 6, frequently 
 occur in early monuments, as they accorded well 
 with the style of decoration — see the monument to 
 Henry Willoughby, 1581, at Wollaton (Thoroton's 
 Notts, p. 27) ; also that to Richard Mansfield, 1624, 
 at West Lake Church (Thoroton, p. 27) ; also that 
 to Thomas Atkinson, 1661, at Newark-on-Trent 
 (Thoroton, p. 200) ; also in a monument to the 
 Clifton family, about 1670, engraved p. 61 in the 
 same book. 
 
 It would be possible to give much more fully the 
 exacter history of several of these shields, showing 
 their various slight variations prevailing at different 
 dates, but such would extend my "attempt" beyond 
 a convenient length. 
 
 I have, however, selected one of the most 
 common occurrence, feeling sure that its history will 
 therefore be the more interesting. In A Glossary 
 of Terms used in British Heraldry, published by 
 Parker, Oxford, 1847, the date 1724 is given as the 
 " earliest shield that has been noticed of this 
 " tasteless, though still prevalent form," No. 81. 
 
Shields Nos. yg to 8^^ — their exacter History. 73 
 
 Now, here is the exact sequence with the small 
 variations which I have been able to trace : — 
 
 No. 79 — Occurs in a book printed by W. Rastell 
 in 1533, quoted in Parker's Glossary. 
 
 In an inlaid chimney-piece at Bolsover Castle, 
 with the arms Cavendish impaling Ogle, and 
 therefore the date is 1590-1600. 
 
 Also in a MS. pedigree of Howard, date 1580, 
 in the possession of Col. Crosse at Shaw 
 Hill, CO. Lancaster. 
 
 The next instance I have found is carved on 
 a pew in Warrington Church, and bears 
 the inscription '^ Richard Massye, 1617." 
 This shows arms quarterly, (i) Rixton of 
 Rixton, (2) Mascy of Rixton, (3) Warburton 
 (?), see Historic Society of Lancashire and 
 Cheshire vol. xxxix, p. 154, where this quar- 
 tering is discussed ; (4) Horton of Horton. 
 
 The same shaped shield appears in a monu- 
 ment to Richard Wiatt, who died in i6ig. 
 This stands in Isleworth Church, and is 
 engraved in Herald and Gen., vol. iii, p. 500. 
 
 No. 84 — Is frequently found in MSS. about 1620. 
 
 I can refer to the pedigree of the Holland and 
 
 Dukenfield families, which is dated 1622. 
 The same shield is used in Bysse's edition 
 
 of Nicholas Upton, which was published in 
 
 1654. 
 Also in a certificate of arms by Segar Garter, 
 
 1625, Historic Society of Lancashire and 
 
 Cheshire, vol. xxxviii, p. 72. 
 It is also carved in oak in Prescot Church, with 
 
 the arms of Ogle of Whiston quartering 
 
 Bertram, and the date 1650. 
 It again occurs on the gravestone of Richard 
 
 Clegg, Vicar of Kirkham ; the earliest date 
 
 on which is 1677 (Chetham Society, vol. xcii, 
 
 p. 128). 
 
74 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 The same, but more slightly eared, occurs 
 frequently with the dedicatory arms of the 
 donors of the plates to Sandford's Genealo- 
 gical History^ published 1677. 
 
 A ledger stone, dated i6go, with the ears still 
 less strongly marked, is engraved Miscell. 
 Genealog. for February, 1885, p. 242. 
 
 No. 82 — Occurs in a grant of arms, dated 1684, 
 Miscell. Genealogica^ second series, vol. i, 
 
 p. 397- 
 
 The same shield appears in a grant, dated 
 i6g6, printed in the same work, first series, 
 vol. ii, p. igi. 
 
 Such shields with very slightly marked ears, 
 and with pointed or angular, also with 
 French bases, are found very frequently in 
 book-plates of 1700 and for ten years or so 
 later, and sometimes with the sides very 
 slightly hollowed-out. 
 
 No. 83 — Is a shield with Queen Anne's arms, 1706, 
 engraved in Willement's Regal Heraldry. 
 
 No. 80 — May be seen in the monument to Tho. 
 Norreys, 1624, in Rainham Church, Kent 
 {ArchcBologia Cantiana, vol. vi, p. 295. 
 
 A grant of arms, dated 1720, is engraved in 
 Miscell. Genealogica^ vol. ii, p. 252, and shews 
 the same shield. 
 
 Seals about the year 17 18 appear with this 
 same shape, of rather broad proportions, 
 and with French bases rather flattened. 
 
 No. 81 — In Wright's edition of Peter Heylin's Helps 
 to History^ published 1773, this variation is 
 used, but of rather longer proportions. 
 About 1780, seals are noticed to follow the 
 same character, and with angular or French 
 bases, just as we see them prevailing even 
 to the present day. 
 
Plate VI. 
 
 G£c 0/f/\ £^Bfifo o^. Ai/. Dei 
 
Shields Nos. yg to 84^ — their exacter History. 75 
 
 This shield therefore, with sHght variations in 
 the ears, may be found from 1533 to the present 
 day ; and the date given in Parker's Glossary was 
 fixed upon insufficient research. 
 
 Countereeale 
 
 in England are usually of the same shape and size 
 as the seal proper ; the pendant cake of wax thus 
 showing two complete impressions, one on each side. 
 
 Edward the Confessor and his successors have 
 continuously used them ; but among subjects they 
 do not appear before 1130 — excepting, perhaps, that 
 remarkable instance of two seals conjoined back to 
 back on the charter of Odo, Bishop of Baieux in 
 1075. See ArchcBologia, vol. i, p. 335. 
 
 Nobility of the blood royal, their wives and 
 daughters, seem to have used counterseals pretty 
 generally from the middle of the twelfth century. 
 The greater titular nobility also adopted them 
 occasionally during that century ; but in the next, 
 and until the Baron's letter (1301), a much larger 
 number occur. Their use, however, was very 
 irregular : many prominent titular nobles neglected 
 them, and, on the other hand, we find many families 
 of only moderate territorial position placing secreta 
 on the back of charter seals. I notice as quite 
 remarkable how many ladies who had come to repre- 
 sent a manor, about the middle of the thirteenth 
 century, when the fashion was at its height, at once 
 beautified or safeguarded their seals with a secretum. 
 
 After 1301 such extra sealing almost disappears, 
 but there are some very late instances. Humfrey 
 Earl of Stafi'ord and Perche, 1438, placed on the 
 back of his splendid seal a smaller one — the Stafford 
 arms on a heater shield, within a decoration of three 
 Stafford knots, but without any inscription (Archce- 
 ologia, vol. xxxviii) ; and some of those large and 
 pretentious seals mentioned as appearing 1450-1475 
 were used with small counterseals. 
 
76 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 Many ecclesiastical communities used counter- 
 seals, also the old Cinque ports and other ancient 
 boroughs. Ancient official departments too, such 
 as the Norwich Staple, 1272-1307 : these having 
 begun, of course continued their use as an esta- 
 blished form. 
 
 Secreta 
 
 were usually small, and inscribed " Secretum." 
 The first I have noticed is that of Seherus de 
 Quenci, created Earl in 1210 — " Secretum Comitis 
 '' Wintonie." (Spelman's /i5/)z7o^/a, p. 67.) John de 
 Busli, however, is even a little earlier ; " Secretum 
 '' Johannis de Bueli " {The Earls of En, by Chester 
 Waters, p. 33). 
 
 After a careful examination I have come to the 
 conclusion that no regulations restricted their use, 
 but counterseals and secreta were adopted or not, 
 according to taste. Some regarded them as an 
 accession of dignity, and some as a safeguard : 
 there seems no doubt it was for the second reason 
 that that signet was placed, in 1529, on the back of 
 the Dartford Priory Seal (see p. 60) ; and I find 
 another instance, where a seal of the same Priory, 
 in 1534, had as a counterseal the impression of a 
 small signet with the letters i f , being apparently 
 the initials of Isabel or Joan Fane, the prioress at 
 that time. 
 
 It will give some idea as to the prevalence of 
 counterseals if I say that to the Baron's letter, 
 1301, are appended ninety-five seals of the principal 
 nobility. Seventy-nine have no counterseals : to 
 sixteen such are attached ; namely, eight of the 
 same size as the seals, and eight greatly smaller. 
 Two of these smaller ones are not inscribed (Wil- 
 liam de Brehouse and Simon de Montacute), and 
 one only is called '' Secretum " (Walteri de Teye). 
 I think this shows they were less commonly used 
 in 1301 than about 1250. 
 
On the later Mantlings. 77 
 
 flDantliiiGe from the Siyteentb to tbe 
 IRineteentb Century. 
 
 It is somewhat difficult to treat distinctly of the 
 mantlings prevailing since the beginning of the 
 sixteenth century ; but as they afford indirect 
 evidence of date, I venture to draw up the follow- 
 ing short description of their variations ; and I do 
 so with some diffidence, in the hope that fellow- 
 students may add to my feeble effort, and that thus 
 we may presently arrive at a perfect and dated 
 scheme of these changes. 
 
 I am obliged to treat seals separately from 
 drawings and stone carvings, because the circum- 
 scribed space in a seal seems to have prevented 
 some of the variations noticed in the others. At 
 the same time, several characteristic changes are 
 found to occur, and at tolerably distinct dates ; 
 and so it is possible to lay down very clearly, as to 
 seals, the current of progressive change. 
 
 By far the greater number of heraldic Seals at 
 the beginning of the sixteenth century have no 
 mantling, but display only a bare shield, without 
 ornament — unless some scroll-work or architectural 
 lines, to fill up the space within the dotted or plain 
 circles. Such seals occur constantly till the end of 
 the seventeenth century. 
 
 About 1550 helmets with mantlings, open and 
 rather sparse, and kept high up on the top of the 
 shield, appear. These mantlings are rather flat, 
 so that a good space is left for the crest, which 
 thus stands out distinctly. As a specimen, see 
 Wm. Lambarde's seal, 1552 {Archceologia Cantiana^ 
 vol. v, p. 256). 
 
 Although a good many seals continue still with 
 the mantlings kept up about the top of the shield 
 (while sometimes a motto, &c., is introduced below), 
 it is observed that a little after this date mantlings 
 
78 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 gradually creep downwards, perhaps to two-thirds 
 of the depth of the shield. See a seal of the 
 Throckmorton family, 1576 {Visitation of Warwick^ 
 i6ig, Harl. Soc.) ; also those of Lord Chancellor 
 Bromley, 1581 (Herald and Genealogist^ vol. v, p. 5) ; 
 John Ogle, 1597 (Mascy Charters, plate C, Historic 
 Society of Lancashire and Cheshire for 1887) '•> ^^^ 
 Edward Osborne, 16 18 [Herald and Genealogist, 
 vol. iv, p. 241 ; also Archceologia Cantiana, vol. v, 
 p. 234). 
 
 This is the character of many examples occurring 
 down to about the year 1650, when a greater pro- 
 fusion of mantling began to be shown : of this the 
 seal of Sir Edward Nicholas, engraved on p. 45, is 
 a good example ; and it is the first instance I have 
 noticed in which the folds of the mantling come out 
 from behind the shield, thus marring its distinctness. 
 Usually, although the volume of foldings increases, 
 they are kept away from it, so as to leave the 
 impression of the shield standing out and quite 
 clear. In this, too, the folds extend higher up on 
 either side of the crest than is usual in earlier 
 examples. 
 
 It may be interesting here to note that of the 
 fifty-nine seals attached to the death warrant of 
 Charles I., in 1648-g — following the very accurate 
 engraving in Monumenta Vetusta^woX. ii, — twenty-one 
 show mantlings, eleven are distinctly without, ten 
 are doubtful, and the remaining seventeen seals 
 are quite illegible. 
 
 From about 1650 many beautifully cut signets 
 are found — the arms, with helmets, crests, and 
 mantlings, the points of which rise up on either 
 side of the crest, thus filling up that empty space. 
 The seal of the Cordwainers of Oxford, made in 
 1680, is a favourable example of the date {Arch. 
 Journal, vol. vi, pp. 159 and 279). 
 
 About 1680 I have observed tassels sometimes 
 appear as a finish to the lower ends of mantlings, 
 
Mantlings of the Sixteenth Century and later. 79 
 
 as in the seal of Thomas Bate, engraved on p. 45 ; 
 also in a signet of 1683, in Miscellanea Gencalogica 
 ct Heraldica for 1886, p. 143 ; and elsewhere. 
 
 Shields set in frames of scroll-work, without 
 mantlings, were prevalent from the beginning of 
 the seventeenth century. For an example, see a 
 signet of Fetherston, 1638, engraved in the Visitation 
 of Warwick (Harleian Society). 
 
 From about 1670 cornucopiae, with flowers, &c., 
 appear, supporting shields more or less egg-shaped ; 
 and some of them are most exquisitely engraved. 
 But even at so late a date, I have not observed 
 tincture lines introduced. 
 
 I have noticed very few seals about this time in 
 the Jacobean taste. Probably no room was left in 
 so confined a space for scroll-work around the 
 base of the shield. But mantlings — rather heavy, 
 although not voluminous, and kept up pretty high — 
 are found towards the end of this seventeenth 
 century. In many cases also, at this time, plain 
 Georgian shields occur, without mantling. 
 
 Early in the eighteenth century seals are found 
 in late Jacobean frames, open and with trellis-work, 
 adorned with rushes and flowers, and without 
 mantlings. 
 
 The influence of Chippendale taste strongly 
 afl'ected seals from about 1750 to 1775. 
 
 Many followed in the style of Adam, with ribbons 
 and festoons of flowers, and sometimes lightly 
 scrolled frames. These, of course, are without 
 mantlings. 
 
 We are thus brought to the end of the eighteenth 
 century. Only occasionally have I met with mant- 
 lings between about 1740 and 1800 ; but I must 
 explain that it is very difficult to get together a 
 body of examples of the eighteenth century : such 
 are not old enough to be figured in engravings, 
 and documents likely to bear them are not oif 
 sufficient interest to be examined for any other 
 
8o Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 purpose. I trust fellow-students who read this 
 book will sketch, with their dates, all instances of 
 this epoch : it is only in that way we can get 
 together a body of evidence. 
 
 It seems to have been very common, also, for 
 successive generations to repeat the style of their 
 seals, as if that were as important as the heraldry 
 displayed ; and thus instances of the several 
 variations occur, perhaps, much later than their 
 legitimate dates — as classified above, from many 
 examples. I know one family whose seals from 
 1718 to 1840 show, with only one or two exceptions, 
 ''the tasteless though still prevalent form" No. 80, 
 and without any mantlings. 
 
 Although taking Drawings and Stone Carvings 
 together, there are certain differences observable in 
 each ; for instance, we constantly find, in monu- 
 mental sculptures of the sixteenth century, designs 
 with mantlings above and scroll-work below, which 
 very closely correspond with Jacobean book-plates 
 and engravings such as did not appear till about 
 1720. I would refer to Thoroton's History of Notts, 
 p. 227 ; where is engraved a monument, at Wollaton, 
 to Henry Willoughby, who died 1581, which is quite 
 Jacobean in taste and treatment. Another equally 
 so is at Newark-upon-Trent Church : this was 
 erected in 1661, to Thomas Atkinson (Thoroton's 
 Notts, p. 200). Another with cornucopiae and 
 scrolls stands in West Lake Church, to the memory 
 of Richard Mansfield, who died 1624 (Thoroton's 
 Notts, p. 27). This last exactly corresponds with 
 some of Hollar's beautiful designs, in Sandford's 
 Genealogical History, published in 1677 ; and it is 
 very remarkable that these are a distinct advance 
 upon Hollar's own designs in the preface and 
 dedication to the Bysse edition of Nicholas Upton, 
 which he engraved in 1654 5 while for nearly fifty 
 years this monumental example had stood in West 
 
Mannings of the Sixteenth Century and later. 8i 
 
 Lake Church, and we know it was only one of 
 many similar English works. I have many times 
 noticed that sculpture precedes engravings or 
 paintings. It is, I think, inherently so : designing 
 in the round comes first, to be afterwards translated, 
 by skilful and artistic and educated shading, into 
 the flat. 
 
 Through the kindness of Dr. Jackson Howard, 
 Maltravers Herald, and Messrs. Mitchell and 
 Hughes, I am able to shew the engraving (from 
 Miscell. Genealogica et Heraldica for 1884, p. gg) 
 of a very unusual 
 mantling from the 
 Confirmation of 
 Arms in 1526, by 
 Thomas Hawley, 
 Clarenceux, to 
 Francoys Galuer- 
 det, a native of 
 Rhodes, and Re- 
 ceiver General in 
 England for the 
 Hospital of St. 
 John of Jerusa- 
 lem. This mant- 
 ling is unusually 
 small ; there is no 
 helmet, and the 
 torce is beauti- 
 fully worked [compare the brass to Sir Wm. Say, 
 lithograph No. 71]. I put this forward first because 
 of its early date, and it seems that at this time 
 mantlings in heraldic drawings, grants, &c., were 
 kept very small. 
 
 It will be convenient to describe, and in a 
 numbered list as follows, the variations observed 
 at successive dates. 
 
 I. — From 1550 to 1570 there is a tendency to 
 keep the greater portion of mantlings above the 
 
82 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 shield. They are of smaller volume, and one fold 
 is allowed to wander down on each side, ending in 
 a tassel about one-third down the depth of the 
 shield. A very characteristic example is engraved 
 in MiscelL Genealogica et Heraldica for June, 1887, 
 being the grant to Thomas ffletewood, of London, 
 1st June, 1545. In the grant to John Lambard, 
 15th January, 155 1 (engraved in ArchcBologia 
 Cantiana^ vol. v, p. 247), such a mantling has four 
 tassels, two above carried up somewhat high, and 
 two below standing about one-third down the 
 shield. The manthng to the arms of Goodricke, 
 engraved in Gerard Legh's Accedens of Armory^ 
 edition 1562, is of the same character, but without 
 tassels. 
 
 2. — A little later the number of folds is observed 
 to increase, and the tassels are carried down further 
 and turn inwards towards the base point of the 
 shield. 
 
 3. — In a grant dated 1572, which is printed in 
 MiscelL Genealogica et Heraldica^ vol. i, p. 321, 
 occurs the first instance I have noticed of the 
 foldings coming from behind the shield, and the 
 same may be seen in a grant of 1575, printed in 
 Sylvanus Morgan's Sphere of Gentry^ lib. ii, p. 74. 
 
 4. — From about 1590 to 1630 a return to the 
 simpler style is observable ; a single fold wandering 
 away from the body and reaching with tassels to 
 the base of the shield. Occasional instances return 
 wholly to the descriptions given under i and 2. 
 
 5. — After about 1620 the volume of mantling 
 gradually increased, and seemed to be purposely so 
 arranged as to come out from behind, probably 
 because it was found in drawings to give artistic 
 relief to the shield. 
 
 6. — By about the year 1670 mantlings are fre- 
 quently found of excessive volume, and in a mass, 
 which would be solid were it not skilfully broken by 
 
Mannings of the Sixteenth Century and later. 83 
 
 lighter hackings appearing in the central portions ; 
 the folds come down in heavy masses, sometimes 
 like great sausages or cucumbers, to the bottom of 
 the shield. Examples of such may be seen in 
 Sandford's Genealogical History^ 1677, and in book- 
 plates engraved in Miscell. Genealogica et Heraldica, 
 December, 1886, p. 184, and elsewhere. The skill 
 of the artist affects wonderfully the quality of these 
 designs ; it is not only the chiaro-oscuro, but the 
 turning of a line may often sparkle with genius. 
 Sometimes they are extremely flat and heavy, for 
 instance, in the map attached to Thoroton's Notts^ 
 1677, may be seen a specimen, which is a great 
 contrast to Hollar's designs in Sandford's Genealogi- 
 cal History^ published in the same year. Again, the 
 frontispiece to Carter's Honor Redivivns, published 
 in 1673, shows flat waves, and behind the shield, 
 coming out two-thirds down its length, the edges 
 rippling into leaves and hackings, while the folds 
 extend down to a boldly hacked and curled cartouche 
 for the motto, out of which spring two branches of 
 olive. 
 
 Instances of this style continue to occur down to 
 1750. We find them so engraved in Guillim's 
 Display y 1724, also in the English Baronetage^ I74i» 
 and in some of the engravings in Atkyn's Glouces- 
 tershire, 1768. 
 
 7. — About the year 1700 appeared for a few 
 years, perhaps we may say till about 1720, book- 
 plates and dedicatory arms with great hacked 
 foldings twisted round and looking something like 
 Catherine-wheel fireworks. Two or four of these 
 occur in book-plates, and sometimes as many as 
 six, three on each side. We notice that these are 
 conventional exaggerations of the less pronounced 
 circular foldings and turnings seen so early as 
 1677 in some of Hollar's engravings in Sandford's 
 Genealogical History, An engraving at p. 185 in 
 
84 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 Chauncey's History of Hertford^ published in 1700, 
 is especially interesting ; it shows a monument, 
 dated 1662, to Hewytt, in Sawbridgeworth Church, 
 where the carver has struggled to avoid the long 
 ugly folds C' cucumbers "), and has introduced very 
 vigorously twisted leaves and hacks which almost 
 approach those conventional Catherine-wheel fire- 
 works as found in book-plates of a later date, say 
 from 1700 to 1720. I would point out that all the 
 armorial engravings in Chauncey's Herts are well 
 worth studying : the mantlings are hacked all over, 
 and extend about four-fifths down the shields in 
 endless small and vigorous twists, the shields them- 
 selves being variations of No. 16. Some of the 
 engravings in Plot's Natural History of Oxfordshire, 
 published in 1705, show the same character, also 
 some of those in Atkyn's History of Gloucestershire, 
 published in 1768. 
 
 8. — The rebound from this taste led to small 
 mantlings, kept a good deal at the top of the shield, 
 even although there were no supporters, as in a 
 peer's coat of arms, to prevent their downward 
 flow. These occur also when the bases of the 
 shields in Jacobean book-plates are finished off 
 with scroll work, trellis, scales, &c., &c.; the upper 
 part of the shield being ornamented with such 
 smallish mantlings. In Blomefield's Norfolk, 1739, 
 ribbon scrolls extend all round some of the shields 
 in the place of a mantling ; while in what is, I 
 suppose, a book-plate, Holland impaling Upton, 
 printed in the pedigrees at the beginning of vol. i, 
 acanthus leaves occur in the base, and break out 
 occasionally, where convenient, from such scrolls, 
 which are arranged round the upper part of the 
 shield. Scrolls are strictly architectural ornaments, 
 and not vegetables. These correspond to the 
 French style called '' Bombe," in which curves and 
 undulations of surface in ribbons, &c., were rolled 
 
Mannings of the Sixteenth Century and later. 85 
 
 and tossed about for artistic effect. But with our 
 English examples of monuments of the sixteenth 
 century in the same taste (see p. 80), we need not 
 consider that our Jacobean style was borrowed 
 from the French, although that nation, for a full 
 century, ending in 1790, guided the artistic tastes 
 of Europe. 
 
 g. — During the Chippendale fashion all martial 
 elements disappear, helmets and mantlings are 
 swept away, and we see the style of Louis XV. 
 borrowed from the prevailing French taste, broken 
 shell-shaped woodwork, rocks, and shell curves 
 (rocaille coquille), hence called '' Rococo." It was 
 well enough in the frames of mirrors and furniture, 
 but seems strangely out of place around a cardioid 
 shield of arms, with festoons of flowers and spikes 
 of reeds or grass, while perhaps Cupids or Greek 
 vases on brackets are introduced. Nevertheless, 
 the genius of Chippendale sublimated this into 
 specimens of great beauty. Chippendale's Books 
 of Designs were published in 1759, i vol., folio, and 
 in 1762, I vol., folio. 
 
 10. — Mantlings, of course, continued to be shown 
 in grants of arms. We find about 1775 they 
 appear to be smaller again, and confined to the top 
 of the shield, often being carried rather high up on 
 each side of the crest, and frequently ending at the 
 base in two tassels [see a grant 1779, Miscell. 
 Genealogica ct Hcraldica, second series, vol. iii, 
 
 II. — This vStyle continued to the beginning of the 
 nineteenth century, when I have observed very 
 light and graceful mantlings thrown about in airy 
 and much hacked foldings, and generally ending in 
 tassels (see a grant 1803, Miscell. Genealogica et 
 Heraldica, original series, vol. ii, p. 20). This 
 character is also seen in many book-plates of this 
 date. 
 
86 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 12. — I must now say a few words on the style 
 indroduced and skilfully enforced by Robert and 
 James Adam. They, too, adopted from the French, 
 and by their skill and artistic taste developed to 
 great perfection the style of Louis XVI. (1774-go). 
 The rage for this fashion arose in Europe upon the 
 discovery at Pompeii of Roman frescoes preserved 
 in their original colours. The brothers Adam 
 caught the exact spirit of these, and produced 
 heraldic designs, consisting of shell-fluted scrolls, 
 with light and airy festoons of flowers and ribbons, 
 surrounding shields almost invariably Georgian 
 No. 25. The festoons were frequently extended in 
 graceful curves, from pegs, just as we see them in 
 the recovered Roman arabesques, or on the walls 
 of the Petit Trianon. Robert and James Adam 
 published their book in three vols., imp. folio, 
 1773-1822. For examples of this style see Dug- 
 dale's Warwickshire, 1765 ; Hutchin's Dorset, ^11 \\ 
 Hasted's i^^;^/, 1778; Rudder's G/owc^s/^rs/z/V^, 1779 
 (one specimen only) ; Nichol's Leicestershire, 1795 ; 
 Shaw's Staffordshire, 1798 ; Manning and Bray's 
 Surrey, 1804. This long livSt will show how 
 extremely popular the Adam style continued to be 
 for about thirty years. 
 
 13. — As early as 1500, a fan-shaped mantling 
 with rounded base appears ; it was formed of an 
 unbacked cloth with many closely folded rays, and 
 occasionally two tassels are attached to the upper 
 corners and hang down as supports on each side 
 of the shield, which stands in the middle^ — see 
 examples engraved in Herald and Genealogist, vol. 
 viii, p. 247 ; Archceologia Cantiana, vol. v, p. 248 ; 
 Miscell. Genealogica et Heraldica, first series, vol. ii, 
 p. 100 ; &c., &c. This design is continued until 
 after 1700, but seems less closely folded at the later 
 dates, when they are often found in ornamental 
 achievements in pedigrees. 
 
Mannings of the Sixteenth Century and later. 87 
 
 14. — A curious example of a mantling is engraved 
 Herald and Genealogist^ vol. viii, p. 254, in which 
 a square sheet or cloth, having no hacking, and 
 attached to the helmet, is folded-in round the 
 edges ; through these a cord is passed, ending in 
 two tassels which extend a little below the bottom 
 of the mantle. This portion of the cloth, as well 
 as the back, hangs down straight without any folds. 
 The result is that the shield stands out against the 
 deeply shaded back ground within these folded-in 
 edges, they being in high light. The MS. from 
 which this is taken is dated 1645, and the shield 
 displays the arms of Helsby. 
 
 15. — The earliest instance I have noticed of 
 those large unbacked square sheets or mantles 
 called by Porney " drapery," which are drawn up 
 through two rings or ribbons at the upper corners 
 and fall in folds, while in the middle stands the 
 shield of arms, occurs in a monument at Holme 
 Pierpoint to the Countess of Kingston, which bears 
 date 1649 (Thoroton's Notts, p. go). Such are also 
 engraved in the Sphere of Gentry, 1661 ; and in the 
 English Baronetage, 1741. These are occasionally 
 to be met with down to 1840. In French heraldry 
 they are commonly found. 
 
 In Archa^ologia Cantiana, vol. x, p. 329, is en- 
 graved a curious tent-shaped " drapery," drawn 
 over the helm and held there by a ducal coronet, 
 from which starts the crest, while beneath, and in 
 the middle of the sheet, stand the shield of arms 
 and vSupporters. This is from " The Confirmation 
 " of Supporters, Crest and Arms to Sir Edward 
 " Bering, Knt. and Bart., by Sir Wm. Segar, 
 " Garter." The first baronet was created ist Feb., 
 1626, and Sir Wm. Segar died in 1633 ; so the 
 date of this drawing is within those seven years. 
 
88 Shapes found in Heraldic Shields. 
 
 It must be evident that each artist gave a certain 
 character and style of his own to his work ; at the 
 same time the various fashions noted above are 
 found strongly prevailing at the dates given. They 
 were what was approved by the public taste, and 
 any variations only extend to more or less skilful 
 working out. It will be noticed that public taste 
 has several times alternated between sparse and 
 voluminous mantlings. There are indications at 
 the present time which seem to point to a return, 
 within a few years, of the massive convolutions 
 seen during the last quarter of the seventeenth 
 century. 
 
 In ledger stones and monuments from 1650 the 
 characteristics given above are followed until about 
 1780, when other kinds of decoration — palm 
 branches, festoons, and scrolls — very largely super- 
 seded mantlings. 
 
 IMPORTANT NOTE ON TINCTURE-LINES IN SEALS. 
 
 My readers would notice at page 52 and again 
 at page 79 that I could not accept the vStatements 
 that seals so early as 1648-g could possibly show 
 tincture-lines. I therefore gave my authorities, 
 and showed pretty evidently that I could not, in the 
 face of other /ac^s, accept them. Since the writing 
 of those pages, Mr. W. H. St. John Hope has very 
 kindly examined for me the original document 
 preserved among the muniments at the House of 
 Lords, and reports that in none of the seals attached 
 to the death-warrant of Charles I. are the tinctures 
 indicated by lines. It is not for me to explain how 
 so accurate an observer as the late Mr. Planche 
 made such a mistake. I think it is probable that 
 the late Mr. Bouttell followed him and enlarged 
 somewhat. The fact, however, is now definitively 
 settled. 
 
Supplementary Notes. 89 
 
 I had observed that in those earlier printed books 
 which have copper plates, the invention of Father 
 Silvester de Petra Sancta had been very cautiously 
 and undecidedly adopted. In Spelman's Aspilogia 
 [included in that small folio published by Edward 
 IBysse in 1654, and to v^'hich I have frequently 
 referred as containing also the works of Nicholas 
 Upton and John de Bado Aureo] most of the 
 shields have tincture lines ; but in some of the 
 copper plates, signs of various planets are given 
 instead of those letters for tinctures which are 
 usually seen in '' tricks." 
 
 NOTE TO PAGE 36. 
 
 I have no doubt that the curious projecting 
 point to which the attention of the reader has 
 been drawn, was meant as a protection against the 
 " Coup de jarret," that terrible feat of arms which 
 aimed at severing the muscles behind the knee, 
 a spot necessarily covered by leather only, and 
 therefore peculiarly vulnerable. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 SHIELDS FIGURED ON PLATE 
 
 PAGE 
 
 "so. Pages. 
 
 No. Pages. 
 
 No. Pages. 
 
 No. Pages. 
 
 1—12, 18,19,72 
 
 9-37, 60 
 
 21—64 
 
 33—67, 68 
 
 2-12, 14,21,24 
 
 10-37, 60 
 
 22—64 
 
 34—67, 68 
 
 3— Introduced 5, 
 
 11-37, 60 
 
 23—65 
 
 35—68 
 
 II, 12, 13, 
 
 12-37, 60 
 
 24—65 
 
 36-70 
 
 17 
 
 13-61 
 
 25-65 
 
 37-... 
 
 4—11,12,17,24 
 
 14—61 
 
 26—65, 66 
 
 38-... 
 
 5 — 16,21,22,24, 
 
 15-61, 62 
 
 27—66 
 
 39—70 
 
 26, 32, 38 
 
 16— 62 
 
 28—66 
 
 40-71 
 
 6—14,15,18,20, 
 
 17-62, 63 
 
 29—66 
 
 41-71 
 
 21, 72 
 
 18— 62 
 
 30-... 
 
 42—68, 71 
 
 7—22, 24, 38 
 
 19—63 
 
 31—67 
 
 43-68, 71 
 
 8-59 
 
 20-63 
 
 32—67 
 
 
 Adam style, 86 
 
 Animals in the fields of seals, 18, 
 22, 23, 24, 27, 32 
 
 Bosses in round shields, 4 ; in other 
 
 shapes, 13, 14, 16 
 Bombe style, 84 
 Bouches, 16, 24, 3[, 37 
 
 Chaplets or Wreaths, 54 
 Chippendale style, 85 
 Counterseals, 75 
 
 Crosses and other signs beginning 
 inscriptions, 21 
 
 Dates on seals, 43 
 
 Death Warrant of Charles I., 52, 
 
 54, 88 
 Decorations on the field in seals, 16, 
 
 21, 23, 32 
 Decline in the style of seals, 27, 30, 
 
 33i 44, 49 
 
 Guiges, 6, 21 
 Gunpowder, use of, 26 
 
 Helmets, 59 
 
 Inscriptions, style of, given at the 
 end of each century ; cross and 
 other signs at their commence- 
 ment, 21 
 
 Ledger stones, 88 
 
 Lines, dots, ropes, &c., surrounding 
 seals, 21 
 
 Mantlings, 39 to 43 ; sixteenth cen- 
 tury and later, 77 to 87 ; fan- 
 shaped, 86 ; square sheets, 86, 
 
 87 
 Mottoes, 58 
 
 Palm branches, 55 
 
 Rococo style, 85 
 
92 
 
 Index, 
 
 Seals sometimes used for a long 
 period, 9, 29 ; lines, dots, ropes, 
 &c,, surrounding, 21 ; time re- 
 quired in making, 27, Note ; 
 decorations on the fields, 16, 21, 
 23, 32 ; animals in fields of, 18, 
 22, 23, 24, 27, 32 ; inscriptions, 
 crosses, and other signs at their 
 beginning, 21 ; unfolded scrolls 
 in, 32 ; counlerseals, 75 ; secreta, 
 76 ; dates on seals, 43 ; decline 
 in style of, 27, 30, 33, 44, 49 
 
 Secreta, 76 
 
 Shields, round, I, 26, 36, 38 ; laws 
 relating to, 2; heart-shaped, 13, 
 15, 71 ; eared, 73 to 75 ; square, 
 5, 19, 20, 38 ; lozenges, 20 ; 
 turned round at base, 14, 69, 72 ; 
 
 (Shields, coutd.) curved outwards, 24, 
 33 to 36 ; curious point in sinister 
 base, 36, 89 ; John of Gaunt's 
 shield, 29 ; the Black Prince's 
 shield, 30 ; length of shields, 
 4, 7 ; their use abandoned in 
 war, 8, 24 to 26 ; introduction 
 of gunpowder not the cause, 26 ; 
 bosses in round shields, 4 ; in 
 other shapes, 13, 14, 16 
 
 Sources of information, 9, 49 
 
 Supporters, 56 
 
 Targetiers, 5 
 
 Tincture lines, 52, 79, 88 
 
 Torces, 43, 81 
 
 Wreaths or Chaplets, 54 
 
 LIVERPOOL : 
 
 THOMAS BRAKELL, PRINTER, 58, DALE STREET. 
 
BEING deeply impressed with the 
 great value of a " CORPUS SlGIL- 
 LORUM " which would bring together in 
 one view a large number of English 
 Seals of each century for the eye to 
 rest upon and so to comprehend the 
 varying styles at different dates, Mr. 
 Grazebrook puts forward the following 
 proposal to. see if a sufficient number 
 of Subscribers will be found to support him, and meet 
 the heavy expense of producing such a work. It is 
 obvious that to lessen the number of illustrations would 
 impair its usefulness, and Mr. Grazebrook would not 
 undertake the book unless it can be thoroughly carried 
 out. What he contemplates would show perhaps fifty 
 selected characteristic seals for each century from the 
 eleventh to the seventeenth, displayed in order of date. 
 So large a number would not be needed at the earliest 
 or latest dates, but for some of the periods a greater 
 number ought to be given. Students now get together 
 such collections in tracings and drawings — as the labour 
 of years ; and it is feared very few have perseverance 
 enough to carry out fully their aim, but without such exact 
 data conclusions must be guess-work. Mr. Grazebrook 
 has such a collection for his own use, and knows from 
 experience what a great advantage it is. 
 
 This proposed well-illustrated book would not only be 
 most valuable and instructive to the Antiquary, it would 
 also possess a far wider and general interest, because 
 these are the highest specimens of Art remaining to us 
 of the early times in which they were made. Seals at 
 all dates are the results of the greatest skill and care 
 to be procured, according to the owner's means ; and 
 
 [OVER. 
 
many of them are masterpieces, both of design and 
 execution. They display the whole career of Art : the 
 sim.plicity of early times, gradually developing and cul- 
 minating in the perfection of the fourteenth century ; 
 to be followed by overloaded designs, beautified by 
 exquisite workmanship, at the end of the fifteenth. 
 
 Such a pictured History of Art could not fail to be 
 interesting and attractive to many who would not care 
 to study the subject from a strictly antiquarian point 
 of view. 
 
 This large collection of engravings would be accom- 
 panied by explanations giving an account of most of 
 the seals, the origin of their decorations, and other 
 particulars involving a considerable amount of genealo- 
 gical research ; which, even when epitomised, must form 
 a bulky volume ; and it would require a large body of 
 Subscribers at 30^". to cover the expense ; but the author 
 trusts he may be encouraged by such extended support 
 that he may be able somewhat to increase the number 
 of illustrations — many of which must be reproduced from 
 the copper plates in old and rare works, thus involving 
 considerable expense 
 
 Subscriptions payable when the work is completed. 
 
 Gentlemen who would be willing to subscribe will please 
 write to that effect to GEORGE Grazebrook, F.S.A., 
 Oak Hill Park, near Liverpool. 
 
 Any suggestions for the improvement of the work 
 would be esteemed. The author will confine himself 
 strictly to 
 
 The Art History of those seals whose dates are 
 
 accurately known ; 
 The Characteristic Styles prevailing at each period ; 
 
 and 
 The various Signs of Date as they are developed. 
 
^ 
 
14 DAY USE 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 
 
 LOAN DEPT. 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or 
 
 on the date to which renewed. 
 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 NOV 1 196769 
 
 
 FEB 1 5 1980 
 
 
 '^'^ MAR 2 I! 
 
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