A Complete Guide to Heraldry Part 40

In English armory the use of _Scythes_, or, as they are sometimes termed, _Sneds_, is but occasional, though, as was only to be expected, this device appears in the Sneyd coat, as follows: "Argent, a scythe, the blade in chief, the sned in bend sinister sable, in the fess point a fleur-de-lis of the second." In Poland the Counts Jezierski bore: "Gules, two scythe-blades in oval, the points crossing each other argent, and the ends in base tied together or, the whole surmounted in chief by a cross-patriarchal-patee, of which the lower arm on the sinister side is wanting."

Two sickles appear in the arms of Shearer, while the Hungerford crest in the case of the Holdich-Hungerford family is blazoned: {299} "Out of a ducal coronet or, a pepper garb of the first between two sickles erect proper." The sickle was the badge of the Hungerfords.

A _Balance_ forms one of the charges of the Scottish Corporation of the Dean and Faculty of Advocates: "Gules, a balance or, and a sword argent in saltire, surmounted of an escutcheon of the second, charged with a lion rampant within a double tressure flory counterflory of the first," but it is a charge of infrequent appearance. It also figures in the arms of the Inst.i.tute of Chartered Accountants.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 551.--Water-bouget.]

Bannerman of Elsick bears a _Banner_ for arms: "Gules, a banner displayed argent and thereon on a canton azure a saltire argent as the badge of Scotland."

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 552.--Arms of Henry Bourchier, Earl of Ess.e.x, K.G.: Quarterly, 1 and 4, argent, a cross engrailed gules, between four water-bougets sable (for Bourchier); 2 and 3, gules, billette or, a fess argent (for Louvain). (From his seal.)]

_Books_ are frequently made use of. The arms of Rylands, the family to whose generosity Manchester owes the Rylands Library, afford a case in point, and such charges occur in the arms of the Universities of both Oxford and Cambridge, and in many other university and collegiate achievements.

_Buckets_ and _Water-bougets_ (Fig. 551) can claim a wide use. In English armory Pemberton has three buckets, and water-bougets appear in the well-known arms of Bourchier (Fig. 552). Water-bougets, which are really the old form of water-bucket, were leather bags or bottles, two of which were carried on a stick over the shoulder. The heraldic water-bouget represents the pair.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 553.--Escallop.]

For an instance of the heraldic usage of the _Comb_ the case of the arms of Ponsonby, Earls of Bessborough, may be cited. Combs also figure in the delightfully punning Scottish coat for Rocheid.

Generally, however, when they do occur in heraldry they represent combs for carding wool, as in the shield of Tunstall: "Sable, three wool-combs argent," while the Russian Counts Anrep-Elmpt use: "Or, a comb in bend azure, the teeth downwards."

_Escallops_ (Fig. 553) rank as one of the most widely used heraldic charges in all countries. They figured in early days outside the limits of heraldry as the badge of pilgrims going to the Holy Land, and may {300} be seen on the shields of many families at the period of the Crusades. Many other families have adopted them, in the hope of a similar interpretation being applied to the appearance of them in their own arms. Indeed, so numerous are the cases in which they occur that a few representative ones must suffice.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 554.--Arms of Hammersmith: Party per pale azure and gules, on a chevron between two cross crosslets in chief and an escallop in base argent, three horseshoes of the first. Crest: on a wreath of the colours, upon the battlements of a tower, two hammers in saltire all proper. Motto: "Spectemur agendo."]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 555.--Arms of the Great Central Railway: Argent, on a cross gules, voided of the field, between two wings in chief sable and as many daggers erect in base of the second, in the fess point a morion winged of the third, on a chief also of the second a pale of the first, thereon eight arrows saltirewise banded also of the third, between on the dexter side three bendlets enhanced and on the sinister a fleur-de-lis or. Crest: on a wreath of the colours, a representation of the front of a locomotive engine proper, between two wings or. [The grant is dated February 25, 1898.]]

They will be found in the arms of the Lords Dacre, who bore: "Gules, three escallops argent;" and an escallop argent was used by the same family as a badge. The Scottish family of Pringle, of Greenknowe, supplies an instance in: "Azure, three escallops or within a bordure engrailed of the last;"

while the Irish Earls of Bandon bore: "Argent, on a bend azure three escallops of the field." {301}

_Hammers_ figure in the crests of Hammersmith (Fig. 554) and of Swindon (Plate VI.), and a hammer is held in the claw of the demi-dragon which is the crest of Fox-Davies of Coalbrookdale, co. Salop (Plate VI.).

A _Lantern_ is a charge on the shield of Cowper, and the arms of the town of Hove afford an absolutely unique instance of the use of _Leg-Irons_.

Three towns--Eccles, Bootle, and Ramsgate--supply cases in their arms in which a _Lighthouse_ is depicted, and this charge would appear, so far as can be ascertained, not only to be restricted to English armory, but to the three towns now named.

_Locomotives_ appear in the arms of Swindon (Plate VI.) and the Great Central Railway (Fig. 555).

Of a similar industrial character is the curious coat of arms granted at his express wish to the late Mr. Samson Fox of Leeds and Harrogate, which contains a representation of the _Corrugated Boiler-Flue_ which formed the basis of his fortune.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 556.--Catherine wheel.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 557.--Staple.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 558.--Hawk's Lure.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 559.--Fylfot.]

An instance of the use of a _Sand-Gla.s.s_ occurs in the arms of the Scottish family of Joa.s.s of Collinwort, which are thus blazoned: "Vert, a sand-gla.s.s running argent, and in chief the Holy Bible expanded proper."

A Scottish corporation, too, supplies a somewhat unusual charge, that of _Scissors_: "Azure, a pair of scissors or" (Incorporation of Tailors of Aberdeen); though a Swabian family (by name Jungingen) has for its arms: "Azure, a pair of scissors open, blades upwards argent."

_Barrels_ and _Casks_, which in heraldry are always known as _tuns_, naturally figure in many shields where the name lends itself to a pun, as in the arms of Bolton.

_Wheels_ occur in the shields of Turner ["Argent, gutte-de-sang, a {302} wheel of eight spokes sable, on a chief wavy azure, a dolphin naiant of the first"] and Carter, and also in the arms of Gooch. The _Catherine Wheel_ (Fig. 556), however, is the most usual heraldic form. The _Staple_ (Fig.

557) and the _Hawk's Lure_ (Fig. 558) deserve mention, and I will wind up the list of examples with the _Fylfot_ (Fig. 559), which no one knows the meaning or origin of.

The list of heraldic charges is very far, indeed, from being exhausted. The foregoing must, however, suffice; but those who are curious to pursue this branch of the subject further should examine the arms, both ancient and modern, of towns and trade corporations. {303}

CHAPTER XX

THE HERALDIC HELMET

Since one's earliest lessons in the rules of heraldry, we have been taught, as one of the fundamental laws of the achievement, that the helmet by its shape and position is indicative of rank; and we early learnt by rote that the esquire's helmet was of steel, and was placed in profile, with the visor closed: the helmet of the knight and baronet was to be open and affronte; that the helmet of the peer must be of silver, guarded by grilles and placed in profile; and that the royal helmet was of gold, with grilles, and affronte. Until recent years certain stereotyped forms of the helmet for these varying circ.u.mstances were in use, hideous alike both in the regularity of their usage and the atrocious shapes into which they had been evolved. These regulations, like some other adjuncts of heraldic art, are comparatively speaking of modern origin. Heraldry in its earlier and better days knew them not, and they came into vogue about the Stuart times, when heraldic art was distinctly on the wane. It is puzzling to conceive a desire to stereotype these particular forms, and we take it that the fact, which is undoubted, arose from the lack of heraldic knowledge on the part of the artists, who, having one form before them, which they were a.s.sured was correct, under the circ.u.mstances simply reproduced this particular form in facsimile time after time, not knowing how far they might deviate and still remain correct. The knowledge of heraldry by the heraldic artist was the real point underlying the excellence of mediaeval heraldic art, and underlying the excellence of much of the heraldic art in the revival of the last few years. As it has been often pointed out, in olden times they "played" with heraldry, and therein lay the excellence of that period. The old men knew the lines within which they could "play," and knew the laws which they could not transgress. Their successors, ignorant of the laws of arms, and afraid of the hidden meanings of armory, had none but the stereotyped lines to follow. The result was bad. Let us first consider the development of the actual helmet, and then its application to heraldic purposes will be more readily followed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 560.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 561.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 562.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 563.]

To the modern mind, which grumbles at the weight of present-day {304} head coverings, it is often a matter of great wonder how the knights of ancient days managed to put up with the heavy weight of the great iron helmet, with its wooden or leather crest. A careful study of ancient descriptions of tournaments and warfare will supply the clue to the explanation, which is simply that the helmet was very seldom worn. For ceremonial purposes and occasions it was carried by a page, and in actual use it was carried slung at the saddle-bow, until the last moment, when it was donned for action as blows and close contact became imminent. Then, by the nature of its construction, the weight was carried by the shoulders, the head and neck moving freely within necessary limits inside. All this will be more readily apparent, when the helmet itself is considered. Our present-day ideas of helmets--their shape, their size, and their proportions--are largely taken from the specimens manufactured (not necessarily in modern times) for ceremonial purposes; _e.g._ for exhibition as insignia of knighthood. By far the larger proportion of the genuine helmets now to be seen were purposely made (certainly at remote dates) not for actual use in battle or tournament, but for ceremonial use, chiefly at funerals. Few, indeed, are the examples still existing of helmets which have been actually used in battle or tournament. Why there are so few remaining to us, when every person of position must necessarily have possessed one throughout the Plantagenet period, and probably at any rate to the end of the reign of Henry VII., is a mystery which has puzzled many people--for helmets are not, like gla.s.s and china, subject to the vicissitudes of breakage. The reason is doubtless to be found in the fact that at that period they were so general, and so little out of the common, that they possessed no greater value than any other article of clothing; and whilst the real helmet, lacking a ceremonial value, was not preserved, the sham ceremonial helmet of a later period, possessing none but a ceremonial value, was preserved from ceremonial to ceremonial, and has been pa.s.sed on to the present day.

But a glance at so many of these helmets which exist will plainly show that it was quite impossible for any man's head to have gone inside them, and the sculptured helmets of what may seem to us uncouth shape and exaggerated size, which are occasionally to be found as part of a monumental effigy, are the size and shape of the helmets that were worn in battle. This accounts for the much larger-sized helmets in proportion to the size of shield which will be found in heraldic emblazonments of the Plantagenet and Tudor periods. The artists of those periods were accustomed to the sight of real helmets, and knew and drew the real proportion which existed between the fighting helmet and the fighting shield. Artists of Stuart and Georgian days knew only the ceremonial helmet, and consequently adopted and stereotyped its impossible shape, {305} and equally impossible size.

Victorian heraldic artists, ignorant alike of the actual and the ceremonial, reduced the size even further, and until the recent revulsion in heraldic art, with its reversion to older types, and its copying of older examples, the helmets of heraldry had reached the uttermost limits of absurdity.

The recent revival of heraldry is due to men with accurate and extensive knowledge, and many recent examples of heraldic art well compare with ancient types. One happy result of this revival is a return to older and better types of the helmet. But it is little use discarding the "heraldic"

helmet of the stationer's shop unless a better and more accurate result can be shown, so that it will be well to trace in detail the progress of the real helmet from earliest times.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 564.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 565.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 566.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 567.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 568.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 569.--Painted "Pot-Helmet," _c._ 1241.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 570.--"Pot-Helmet," from the _Eneit_ of Heinrich von Veldeke.]

In the Anglo-Saxon period the common helmet was merely a cap of leather, often four-cornered, and with a serrated comb (Figs. 560 and 561), but men of rank had a conical one of metal (Fig. 562), which was frequently richly gilt. About the time of Edward the Confessor a small piece, of varying breadth, called a "nasal," was added (Fig. 563), which, with a quilted or gamboised hood, or one of mail, well protected the face, leaving little more than the eyes exposed; and in this form the helmet continued in general use until towards the end of the twelfth century, when we find it merged into or supplanted by the {306} "chapelle-de-fer," which is first mentioned in doc.u.ments at this period, and was shaped like a flat-topped, cylindrical cap. This, however, was soon enlarged so as to cover the whole head (Fig. 564), an opening being left for the features, which were sometimes protected by a movable "ventaille," or a visor, instead of the "nasal." This helmet (which was adopted by Richard I., who is also sometimes represented with a conical one) was the earliest form of the large war and tilting "heaume" (or helm), which was of great weight and strength, and often had only small openings or slits for the eyes (Figs.

565 and 566). These eyepieces were either one wide slit or two, one on either side. The former was, however, sometimes divided into two by an ornamental bar or buckle placed across. It was afterwards pointed at the top, and otherwise slightly varied in shape, but its general form appears to have been the same until the end of the fourteenth century (Figs. 567, 568). This type of helmet is usually known as the "pot-shaped." The helmets themselves were sometimes painted, and Fig. 569 represents an instance which is painted in green and white diagonal stripes. The ill.u.s.tration is from a parchment MS. of about 1241 now in the Town Library of Leipzic. Fig.