The Curiosities of Heraldry Part 20

2. Gentlemen of blood and coat-armour perfect, but not of ancestry; being those descended in the fifth degree from him 'that slewe a Saracen or Heathen Gentle-man;' from him that won the standard, guidon, or coat-armour of a Christian gentleman, and so bare his arms; from him that obtained arms by gift from his sovereign; or from him that purchased an estate to which arms appertained. To this order likewise belong a yeoman who has worthily obtained arms and knighthood; and a yeoman who has been made a doctor of laws and has obtained a coat of arms.

3. Gentlemen of blood perfect, and coat armour imperfect; the 'yonger blouds' of a house, of which the elder line has failed after a lineal succession of five generations.

4. Gentlemen of blood and coat-armour imperfect; the _third_ in lineal descent from him who slew a Saracen gentleman, &c. &c. &c., as under the third description; also the natural son of a gentleman of blood and coat-armour perfect, and the legitimate son of a yeoman, by a gentlewoman of blood, &c., being an inheritrix.

5. Gentlemen of coat-armour imperfect: those who have slain an infidel gentleman, &c., _ut supra_; also gentlemen of _paper and wax_.

6. Gentlemen, neither of blood nor coat-armour, are of three orders; namely, 1, _Apocrafat_--Students of common law and grooms of the sovereign's palace, having no coat-armour; 2, _Spiritual_--A churl's son made a priest, canon, &c.; and 3, _Untriall_--He who being brought up in the service of a bishop, abbot, or baron, enjoys the bare t.i.tle of gentleman; and he that having received any degree of the schools, or borne any office in a city so as to be saluted _Master_.

As Saracen-killing has long ceased to be a favourite amus.e.m.e.nt,--as the winning of standards is an undertaking as rare as it is perilous,--as few in protestant England have the good fortune to serve abbots and bishops,--and, as a grant of arms by the heralds is a somewhat expensive affair,--how very few have now the chance of becoming _gentlemen_ in the heraldrical sense of the term. Widely at variance with the courtesies of every-day life are these antiquated laws of chivalry!

We have seen that nearly every man, from the throne to the stable, each in his own sphere, is recognized as a gentleman; yet how few, notwithstanding, like to be so described in a legal, formal manner.

Formerly, it was customary to add GENT., as an honourable distinction to one's name, in the address of his letters, in his will, or upon his tombstone; but in these days nothing short of ESQ. is deemed respectful.

This foible, however, is not a thing of yesterday; for so long ago as 1709, Mr. Isaac Bickerstaff, of the Tatler, says: "I have myself a couple of clerks; one directs to Degory Goosequill, _Esquire_, to which the other replies by a note to Nehemiah Dashwell, _Esquire_, with respect."

What courtesy at first concedes, the party honoured soon learns to exact.

The tenacity with which many persons of some pretensions to family, but with very few of the other qualifications which are supposed to belong to the character of a gentleman, adhere to the courtesy t.i.tle of _Esq._ must have been observed by every one. I have heard of persons of this description, who, from the pressure of circ.u.mstances, have entered into trade, being mortified by its omission; though their own good sense must have suggested to them the absurdity of such an address as "Nicholas Smith, Esq. Tailor," or "Geoffry Brownman, Esq. Butcher." Not long since a _squireen_ of this order (in a southern county), who eked out the little residuum of his patrimony by the occupation of a farm comprising a few acres of hops, on receiving a letter from the local excise-officer respecting the hop-duty with which he was charged, felt his dignity much insulted at being styled in the address plain _Mr._ Full of rage at the insolence of the official, he appealed to the collector, expecting, probably, that he would reprimand the offender with great severity. The collector, however, treated the matter as a joke, but ordered his clerk to strike out _Mr._ from the beginning of the name, and to add ESQ. at the end. This was not satisfactory to the insulted party, who determined to appeal to a higher court. He accordingly paid a visit to the magistrates in petty sessions a.s.sembled at H----, and a dialogue somewhat like the following took place.

_Chairman._ What is your application?

_Squireen_ (with a low salaam). Sir, I come here to have my t.i.tle confirmed.

_Chairman_ (in surprise). To what t.i.tle do you allude, Sir?

_Sq._ I have the honour to be an Esquire; and I have here a doc.u.ment to show that I have not been treated with the respect due to my rank. I demand a summons for the writer of this letter.

The letter was handed to the bench, and the chairman, looking doubtfully at his colleagues, requested our squireen to withdraw while his application was considered. He withdrew accordingly, and the magistrates were not a little amused with the case. Fortunately, a gentleman who had witnessed the scene before the collector happened to be present, and he having related the particulars, the bench ordered the applicant to be recalled. The cry of "N. M. _Esquire_! N. M. _Esquire_!" resounded along the room and down the staircase. That gentleman responded to the call with great alacrity, and approached the bench with another profound obeisance; while the chairman, a.s.suming all the gravity he could command, said--

Sir; the magistrates have considered your application, and although they would not feel justified in issuing a summons against the offending party, yet they have come to an unanimous decision that your claim to be considered an Esquire is well founded. Sir, I have the satisfaction to inform you that YOUR t.i.tLE IS CONFIRMED!

A third inclination followed this highly satisfactory sentence, and our Esquire left the court with as much dignity as if he had just been created an earl, or rather with as much as Don Quixote exhibited in the stable-yard, after the innkeeper had conferred upon him the honour of knighthood.

The _Country Squires_ may be regarded as an extinct race; and though in the present advanced state of society we can scarcely wish to see that rude and stalwart order revived, yet there are many parts of their character which certainly deserve the imitation of their more polished descendants. The subjoined description of an antient worthy of this cla.s.s, Mr. Hastings, of Dorsetshire,[249] though familiar to many readers, I venture to introduce.

"Mr. Hastings was low of stature, but strong and active, of a ruddy complexion, with flaxen hair. His clothes were always of green cloth, his house was of the old fashion, in the midst of a large park, well stocked with deer, rabbits, and fishponds. He had a long narrow bowling-green in it, and used to play with round sand bowls. Here, too, he had a banquetting room built, like a stand, in a large tree! He kept all sorts of hounds, that ran buck, fox, hare, otter, and badger; and had hawks of all kinds, both long and short winged. His great hall was commonly strewed with marrow-bones, and full of hawk-perches, hounds, spaniels, and terriers. The upper end of it was hung with fox-skins of this and the last year's killing. Here and there a polecat was intermixed, and hunters'

poles in great abundance. The parlour was a large room, completely furnished in the same style. On a broad hearth, paved with brick, lay some of the choicest terriers, hounds, and spaniels. One or two of the great chairs had litters of cats in them, which were not to be disturbed. Of these, three or four always attended him at dinner, and a little white wand lay by his trencher to defend it, if they were too troublesome. In the windows, which were very large, lay his arrows, crossbows, and other accoutrements. The corners of the room were filled with his best hunting and hawking poles. His oyster table stood at the lower end of the room, which was in constant use twice a day, all the year round, for he never failed to eat oysters both at dinner and supper, with which the neighbouring town of Pool supplied him. At the upper end of the room stood a small table with a double desk, one side of which held a Church Bible, the other the Book of Martyrs. On different tables in the room lay hawks-hoods, bells, old hats, with their crowns thrust in, full of pheasants' eggs; tables, dice, cards, and store of tobacco-pipes. At one end of this room was a door, which opened into a closet, where stood bottles of strong beer, and wine, which never came out but in single gla.s.ses, which was the rule of the house; for he never exceeded himself, nor permitted others to exceed. Answering to this closet, was a door into an old chapel, which had been long disused for devotion; but in the pulpit, as the safest place, was always to be found a cold chine of beef, a venison pasty, a gammon of bacon, or a great apple-pie, with thick crust, well baked. His table cost him not much, though it was good to eat at. His sports supplied all, but beef and mutton, except on Fridays, when he had the best of fish. He never wanted a London pudding, and he always sang it in with "My part lies therein-a." He drank a gla.s.s or two of wine at meals; put syrup of gillyflowers into his sack; and had always a tun gla.s.s of small beer standing by him, which he often stirred about with rosemary. He lived to be an hundred, and never lost his eyesight, nor used spectacles. He got on horseback without help, and rode to the death of the stag at fourscore."[250]

In consequence of the cheapness of t.i.tles in foreign countries, our esquires and gentry are frequently undervalued by strangers, who can form no idea of an unt.i.tled aristocracy. We are accustomed to consider no families n.o.ble except those possessing the degree of baron, or some superior t.i.tle; and the branches, even of a ducal house, after a certain number of removes from the t.i.tled representative cease to be n.o.ble. On the continent it is otherwise: all the descendants of a peer are n.o.ble. Our antient gentry, possessed of the broad lands which have descended to them through a long line of ancestors, are virtually more n.o.ble, in the heraldric sense of the term, than dukes and marquises who are but of yesterday. New n.o.bility cannot compensate for the want of antient gentry.

The caviller will perhaps ask, concerning some of the rambling observations contained in this chapter, and the subject which has called them forth, _Cui bono?_ He may also mutter something about the n.o.bility of virtue, as the only one worth possessing. Well, well, let him enjoy his opinion, and maintain it if he can; but until he has convinced me that true integrity and exalted benevolence cannot reside beneath a coronet, and that the n.o.bility of station obliterates or neutralizes that of virtue, I shall beg leave also to enjoy mine; admitting, meanwhile, the correctness of a sentiment quaintly, though wisely, advanced by Sir John Ferne: "That kind of gentry which is but a bare n.o.blenes of bloud, not clothed with vertues (the right colours of a gentleman's coat-armour) is the _meanest_, yea, and the _most base_ of all the rest: for it respecteth but onely the body, being derived from the loynes of the auncestors, not from the minde, which is the habitation of vertue, the inne of reason, and the resemblaunce of G.o.d; and, in true speach, this gentry of stock _only_ shal be said but a shadow, or rather a painture of n.o.bility."[251]

"=Manners makyth man, Quoth William of Wykeham.="

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER XI.

Historical Notices of the College of Arms.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (Arms of the College.)[252]]

"Their consequence was great in the court, in the camp, and, still more than either, in the council; as negociators they had great influence; they were conspicuous for judgment, experience, learning, and elegance; they gained honour whenever they were employed."--_n.o.ble._

We have seen, in a former chapter, that at an early period the sovereign and his greater n.o.bles retained in their respective establishments certain officers called heralds, whose duties have been slightly alluded to. In the present chapter the reader will find a hasty sketch of the history of these functionaries in their incorporated capacity as a =College of Arms=.

The College of Arms, or, as it is often called, the "Heralds' College,"

owes its origin as a corporation to a monarch who has the misfortune to occupy a very unenviable place in the scroll of fame; to a man whose abilities and judgment would have received all due honour from posterity had they been coupled with the attributes of justice and benevolence, and attended with a better claim to the sceptre of these realms. But, whatever may be said of Richard III as an usurper, a murderer, and a tyrant, impartial justice awards to him the credit of a wise and masterly execution of the duties of the regal office. Many of the regulations in the state adopted by him and continued by his successors bear the impress of a mind of no despicable order. One of his earliest acts was the foundation of this college. "Personally brave, and nurtured from his infancy in the use of the sword, he was more especially ambitious of preserving the hereditary dignity and superior claims of the =White Rose=.

He supported, at his own charge, Richard Champneys, Falcon herald, whom upon his accession he created Gloucester king of arms, and at whose instance he was further induced to grant to the body of heralds immunities of great importance."[253] His letters patent for this purpose bear date March 2d, 1483, the first year of his reign. The heraldic body, as originally const.i.tuted, consisted of twelve of the most approved heralds, for whose habitation he a.s.signed a messuage in the parish of All Saints in London, called Pulteney's Inn, or Cold Harbore.[254] As usual with every fraternity of those times, the newly-const.i.tuted college had a chaplain, whose stipend was fixed at 20 per annum. The 'right fair and stately house,' as it is termed by Stowe, was first presided over by Sir John Wriothesley, or Wrythe, whose arms were a.s.sumed by the body, and are still perpetuated on their corporate seal. For the better performance of the duties of the heralds, the kingdom was divided into two provinces, over each of which presided a king of arms. The t.i.tle of the officer who regulated all heraldric affairs south of the river Trent was _Clarenceux_, and that of him who exercised jurisdiction northward of it, _Norroy_. From this statement it must not be inferred that kings of arms had not previously existed, for there were a _Norroy_ and a _Surroy_[255] (q. d.

'northern king' and 'southern king,') as early as the reign of Edward III; although their duties were not so well defined nor their authority so great as both became after the incorporation of the college. Over both these, as princ.i.p.al of the establishment, was appointed _Garter_, king of arms, an office inst.i.tuted by King Henry V, and so called from his official connexion with the order of knighthood bearing that designation.

Next in point of dignity to the provincial kings, stood several _heralds_ bearing peculiar t.i.tles, and the third rank was composed of pursuivants, or students, who could not be admitted into the superior offices until they had pa.s.sed some years of probationary study and practice in the duties of their vocation. These three degrees, it is scarcely necessary to state, still exist in the corporation. From a very early period Garter exercised, and still continues to exercise, a concurrent jurisdiction with the two Provincial Kings of Arms in the grant of Armorial Ensigns, but he had many exclusive privileges; as the right of ordering all funerals of peers of the realm, the two archbishops, the bishop of Winchester, and knights of the Garter; he only could grant arms to these individuals; he was consequently a person of no inconsiderable importance.

The duties of the officers of arms at this period consisted in attending all ceremonials incident to the king and the n.o.bility, such as coronations, creations, the displaying of banners on the field of battle or in the lists, public festivities and processions, the solemnization of baptisms, marriages, and funerals, the enthronization of prelates, proclamations, and royal journeys or progresses. The importance of the presence of heralds at royal funerals of a somewhat later date, is shown in the two following extracts:[256]

"And incontinent all the heraudes did off their cote-armour, and did hange them upon the rayles of the herse, _cryinge lamentably_ in French, 'The n.o.ble king Henry the seaveneth is dead;' and as soon as they had so done, everie heraude putt on his cote-armure againe, and cried with a loude voyce, 'Vive le n.o.ble Henry le viijth.'"

At the interment of Prince Arthur, 1502:

"At every Kurie elyeson an officer of arms with a high voyce said for Prince Arthure's soule and all Christian soules, Pater-noster.... His officer of arms, _sore weeping_, toke off his coate of armes, and cast it along over the cheaste right lamentablie."[257]

The fees demanded on the occasions before recited were considerable, but the officers of arms had another source of revenue, namely, the largesses or rewards for proclaiming the styles and t.i.tles of the n.o.bility. These were optional, and generally corresponded to the rank and opulence of the donors. "On Newe-yeares-day," [1486], says Leland, "the king, being in a riche gowne, dynede in his chamber, and gave to his officers of armes vi_l._ of his Largesse, wher he was cryed in his style accustomede. Also the quene gave to the same officers XL_s._ and she was cried in her style.

At the same time my lady the kyngs moder gave XX_s._ and she was cried Largesse iij tymes. De hault, puissaunt, et excellent Princesse, la mer du Roy notre souveraigne, countesse de Richemonde et de Derbye, Largesse.

Item, the Duc of Bedeforde gave XL_s._ and he was cried, Largesse de hault et puissaunt prince, frere et uncle des Roys, duc de Bedeforde, et counte de Penbroke, Largesse. Item, my lady his wiff gave xiij_s._ iiij_d._ and she was cried, Largesse de hault et puissaunt princesse, d.u.c.h.esse de Bedeforde et de Bokingham, countesse de Penbrok, Stafford, Harford, et de Northampton, et dame de Breknok, Largesse. Item, the Reverende Fader in G.o.d the Lorde John Fox, Bishop of Excester, privy seale, gave XX_s._ Item, th' Erle of Aroundell gave X_s._, and he was cried, Largesse de n.o.ble et puissaunt seigneur le counte d'Aroundell, et seigneur de Maltravers. Item, th' Erle of Oxinforde gave xx_s._ and he was cryede, Largesse de n.o.ble et puissaunt le Counte d'Oxinforde, Marquis de Develyn, Vicount de Bulbik, et Seigneur de Scales, Graunde Chamberlayn, et Admirall d'Angleter, Largesse. Item, my lady his wiff XX_s._ and she was cried, Largesse de n.o.ble et puissaunt Dame la Countesse d'Oxinford, Marquise de Develyn, Vicountesse de Bulbik, et Dame de Scales, &c. &c."

Another perquisite of the heraldic corps were great quant.i.ties of the rich stuffs, such as velvet, tissue, and cloth of gold, used as the furniture of great public ceremonials. The following are some of the fees claimed by the officers on state occasions, as recorded in one of the Ashmolean MSS.

"At the coronacion of the Kinge of England c{_l._}[258], appareled in scarlet.

"At the displaying of the King's banner in any campe ... c markes.

"At the displaying of a Duke's banner, 20.

"At a Marquis's, 20 markes.

"At an Earle's, x{_l._}, &c. &c.

"The Kinge marrying a wife 50, _with the giftes of the King's and Queen's uppermost garments_!

"At the birth of the King's eldest son, 100 markes; at the birth of other younger children, 20.

"The King being at any syge (siege) with the crowne on his head, 5.

"The wages due to the officers of armes when they go owt of the land:

"Garter 8_s._ a day: every of the other kings 7_s._: every herald 4_s._: every pursuivant 2_s._: and theyr ordinary expences."