The Handbook to English Heraldry Part 1

The Handbook to English Heraldry.

by Charles Boutell.

PREFACE

TO THE TENTH EDITION

In the revision of this well-known work I have held my hand, rather than the contrary, trying to bear always in mind that it was the hand-book of Mr. Charles Boutell and not a production of my own. My alterations have been concerned chiefly in bringing the volume up to date, a necessity imposed by the creation of new orders of knighthood, and change of Sovereign. I have certainly omitted a few remarks which I have thought might be the cause of leading students of the science astray: I have altered ambiguous wording to emphasise the real, and I have no doubt the originally intended meaning. But in many points which, being deductions, are naturally matters of opinion, I have left herein various expressions of Mr. Boutell's opinion, with which I can hardly say I personally altogether agree or would myself put forward. I hold that it is no part of an editor's duty to air his own opinions under the protection or repute of another's name, and herein I have inserted nothing for which my own opinion is the only authority.

A. C. FOX-DAVIES.

LINCOLN'S INN, _June 1908_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 2.--St. Edward.

No. 1.--St. George.

No. 3.--St. Edmund.]

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

This Volume, specially prepared for the use of students at an early period of their study of English Heraldry, commends itself also to those inquirers who may desire to obtain some general information on the same subject, without having any intention to devote to Heraldry much either of their time or of their serious regard.

The success, no less extraordinary than gratifying, of my larger work on Heraldry, led me to hope that a not less favourable reception might be extended to a simpler and much shorter essay, more decidedly elementary in its aim and character, and yet as far as possible within its limits complete. Such a treatise I have endeavoured to produce in this Volume.

Inseparably a.s.sociated with the History of our Country, and more particularly when our national History becomes the Biography of eminent Englishmen, English Heraldry has the strongest claims upon the attention not only of all Historians, but also of all who desire to become familiar with their writings. In like manner, Heraldry may be studied with no less of advantage than of satisfaction by all Artists, whether Architects, Sculptors, Painters, or Engravers. Nor is it too much to a.s.sert that some knowledge of Heraldry, in consequence of its singular and comprehensive utility, ought to be estimated as a necessary element of a liberal education. In confirmation of my own views, I am tempted to quote the following pa.s.sage from M. GOURDON DE GENOUILLAC'S introduction to his excellent "Grammaire Heraldique," published at Paris:-- "Le blason," says M. de Genouillac, "est une langue qui s'est conservee dans sa purete primitive depuis les siecles, langue dont la connaissance, est indispensable aux familles n.o.bles, qui y trouvent un signe d'alliance ou de reconnaissance, aux numismates, aux antiquaires, aux archeologues, enfin a tous les artistes, gens de lettres, &c.; cependant cette langue est presque inconnue, et la plupart des personnes qui possedent le droit de porter des armoiries seraient fort en peine de les expliquer selon les termes techniques!" Heraldry, indeed, I believe to be a study worthy to be universally regarded with affectionate respect, as it certainly is eminently qualified to inspire such a sentiment in every cla.s.s of student.

In this spirit I have here treated the elements of the Heraldry of England, confident that, of those who may accompany me as far as I shall lead them, very many will not be content to stop where I shall take leave of them. Thus much I promise my companions--I will be to them a faithful guide. They may trust to my accuracy. I have made no statement, have adduced no example, nor have I exhibited any ill.u.s.tration, except upon authority. I myself like and admire what is real and true in Heraldry; and it is by the attractiveness of truth and reality that I desire to win for Heraldry fresh friends, and to secure for it firm friendships.

It will be understood that from the authority, the practice, and the a.s.sociations of the early Heraldry of the best and most artistic eras, I seek to derive a Heraldry which we may rightly consider to be our own, and which we may transmit with honour to our successors. I do not suggest the adoption, for present use, of an obsolete system. But, while I earnestly repudiate the acceptance and the maintenance amongst ourselves of a most degenerate subst.i.tute for a n.o.ble Science, I do aspire to aid in restoring HERALDRY to its becoming rank, and consequently to its early popularity, now in our own times. This is to revive the fine old Heraldry of the past, to give to it a fresh animation, and to apply it under existing conditions to existing uses and requirements: not, to adjust ourselves to the circ.u.mstances of its first development, and to reproduce as copyists its original expressions. It is not by any means a necessary condition of a consistent revival of early Heraldry, that our revived Heraldry should admit no deviation from original usage or precedent. So long as we are thoroughly animated by the spirit of the early Heralds, we may lead our Heraldry onwards with the advance of time. It is for us, indeed, to prepare a Heraldry for the future, no less than to revive true Heraldry in the time now present. We may rightly modify, therefore, and adapt many things, in order to establish a true conformity between our Heraldry and the circ.u.mstances of our own era: for example, with advantage as well as propriety we may, in a great measure, subst.i.tute Badges for Crests; and we shall do well to adopt a style of drawing which will be perfectly heraldic, without being positively unnatural.

The greater number of my Ill.u.s.trations have been engraved only in outline, with the twofold object of my being thus enabled to increase the number of the examples, and to adapt the engravings themselves to the reception of colour. It will be very desirable for students to blazon the ill.u.s.trations, or the majority of them, in their proper tinctures: and those who are thoroughly in earnest will not fail to form their own collections of additional examples, which, as a matter of course, they will seek to obtain from original authorities. With the exception of a few examples, my Ill.u.s.trations, considerably over 400, have all been executed expressly for this work; and they all have been engraved by Mr. R. B. UTTING. The chief exceptions are thirteen admirable woodcuts of Scottish Seals, all of them good ill.u.s.trations of Heraldry south of the Tweed, originally engraved for Laing's n.o.ble quarto upon "The Ancient Seals of Scotland," published in Edinburgh.

Scottish Heraldry, I must add, as in any particulars of law and practice it may differ from our Heraldry on this side of the Tweed, I have left in the able hands of the Heralds of the North: at the same time, however, the Heraldry of which I have been treating has so much that is equally at home on either side of "the Border," that I have never hesitated to look for my examples and authorities to both the fair realms which now form one Great Britain.

C. B.

[Signature]

ENGLISH HERALDRY

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTORY

_Early Popularity of Heraldry in England-- Origin of English Heraldry; Definition; Characteristics; Developments; Early Uses; not connected with Earlier Systems-- Ancient Heraldry-- Past and Present Treatment of the Subject._

"What! Is it possible? not know the figures of Heraldry!

Of what could your father be thinking?"

--ROB ROY.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 4.]

The sentiment unquestionably was his own which Sir Walter Scott made delightful Di Vernon express when, with indignant surprise, she asked Frank Osbaldistone of what his father could have been thinking, that he had been permitted to grow up without any knowledge of Heraldry. Sir Walter was right in his estimate of the high value of Heraldry as an element of education: and, in professing herself a votaress of the Herald's "gentle science," it was quite right in Di Vernon to suggest to other ladies that it would be well for them if Heraldry should find favour in their eyes also. The age of Rob Roy, however, was far from being in harmony with heraldic a.s.sociations: nor was the author of "Waverley" himself permitted to accomplish more, than to lead the way to that revival of a popular sympathy with every expression of early Art, which now forms one of the most remarkable characteristics of our own era.

In the olden time, in England, the love of Heraldry, which was prevalent amongst all cla.s.ses, was based upon an intelligent appreciation of its worthiness. A part of the feudal system of the Middle Ages, and at once derived from the prevailing form of thought and feeling, and imparting to it a brilliant colouring peculiar to itself, Heraldry exercised a powerful influence upon the manners and habits of the people amongst whom it was in use. By our early ancestors, accordingly, as Mr. Montagu has so happily written, "little given to study of any kind, a knowledge of Heraldry was considered indispensable:" to them it was the "outward sign of the spirit of chivalry, the index, also, to a lengthened chronicle of doughty deeds." And this Heraldry grew up, spontaneously and naturally, out of the circ.u.mstances and requirements of those times.

It came into existence, because it was needed for practical use; it was accepted and cherished, because it did much more than fulfil its avowed purpose. At first, simply useful to distinguish particular individuals, especially in war and at the tournament, English Heraldry soon became popular; and then, with no less rapidity, it rose to high honour and dignity.

From the circ.u.mstance that it first found its special use in direct connection with military equipments, knightly exercises, and the _melee_ of actual battle, mediaeval Heraldry has also been ent.i.tled ARMORY. Men wore the ensigns of Heraldry about their persons, embroidered upon the garments that partially covered their armour,--and so they called them _Coats-of-Arms_: they bore these same ensigns on their shields,--and they called them _Shields-of-Arms_: and in their Armorial Banners and Pennons they again displayed the very same insignia, floating in the wind high above their heads, from the shafts of their lances.

The Heraldry or Armory of England, an honourable and honoured member of the ill.u.s.trious family of mediaeval European Heraldry, may be defined as a symbolical and pictorial language, in which figures, devices, and colours are employed instead of letters. Each heraldic composition has its own definite and complete significance, conveyed through its direct connection with some particular individual, family, dignity, or office.

Every such heraldic composition, also, is a true legal possession, held and maintained by an express right and t.i.tle: and it is hereditary, like other real property, in accordance with certain laws and precedents of inheritance. But in this respect heraldic insignia are singular and unlike other property, inasmuch as it is a general rule that they cannot be alienated, exchanged, or transferred otherwise than by inheritance or other lawful succession. Exceptions to this rule, when they are observed occasionally to have occurred, show clearly their own exceptional character, and consequently they confirm the true authority of the rule itself. It will be understood, as a necessary quality of its hereditary nature, that the significance of an heraldic composition, while "definite and complete" in itself, admits of augmentation and expansion through its a.s.sociation with successive generations. Thus, the Royal Shield of EDWARD III. is "complete" as the heraldic symbol of that great monarch, and of the realm under his rule: and yet this same shield, equally "complete" (with one simple modification) as the heraldic symbol of each successive Sovereign till the death of ELIZABETH, has its significance infinitely augmented and expanded through its hereditary a.s.sociation with all the Sovereigns of the Houses of Plantagenet and Tudor.

Until the concluding quarter of the twelfth century, the traces of the existence of Heraldry are faint and few in number. Early in the thirteenth century the new science began to establish itself firmly amongst our ancestors of that age; and it is certain that, as soon as its character and capabilities were in any degree understood aright, it grew speedily into favour; so that in the reign of HENRY III. (A.D.

1216-1272) Heraldry in England had confirmed its own claims to be regarded as a Science, by being in possession of a system, and a cla.s.sification of its own.

The Crusades, those extraordinary confederacies without a parallel in the history of civilised nations, were themselves so thoroughly a matter of religious chivalry, that it was only an inevitable result of their existence that they should give a powerful impulse to the establishment and development of Heraldry in its early days.

But Heraldry, from the time of its first appearance in England, was found to be valuable for other uses besides those which so intimately connected it with both real and imitative warfare, with the fierce life-and-death conflict of the battle-field, and with the scarcely less perilous struggle for honour and renown in the lists. Very soon after the Norman Conquest, in consequence of their presence being required to give validity to every species of legal doc.u.ment, SEALS became instruments of the greatest importance; and it was soon obvious that heraldic insignia, with a representation of the knightly shield upon which they were displayed, were exactly suited to satisfy every requirement of the seal-engraver. By such means Heraldry became interwoven as well with the peaceful concerns of everyday life, as with the display of martial splendour and the turmoil of war.

Many attempts have been made to set aside the opinion that the Heraldry of the Middle Ages in England was a fresh creation, a production of indigenous growth: and great is the ingenuity that has been brought into action to carry back the Heraldry of our own country from the commencement of the thirteenth century through the previous elementary stages of its existence, in order to trace its direct lineal descent from certain decorative and symbolical devices that were in use at much earlier periods. The careful and diligent researches, however, of the most learned Heralds have at present led them almost unanimously to reject all such theories as these, as speculative and uncertain. At the same time, it is an indisputable fact that, in all ages of the world, and amongst all races of men, some form of symbolical expression has been both in use and in favour. And it is equally true that this symbolism, whatever it may have been, has generally been found in some way a.s.sociated with a military life and with the act of warfare.

Soldiers, and particularly those in high command, have always delighted to adorn their shields with devices that sometimes were significant of their own condition or exploits, or sometimes had reference to their country, or even to their families; and, in like manner, it has been a universal custom to display similar devices and figures in military standards of all kinds. At the time of the Conquest, as is shown in the famous Bayeux Tapestry of the Conqueror's Consort, the shields and standards of both Normans and Anglo-Saxons were painted, and perhaps the latter were embroidered, with various figures and devices; but certainly without any heraldic significance or any personal a.s.sociations being indicated by these figures and devices, which bear a general resemblance to the insignia of the Legions and Cohorts of Imperial Rome. Figures Nos. 5 and 6 give representations of the standards that are introduced into the Bayeux Tapestry. The same species of decoration, consisting chiefly of painted patterns, with discs, stars, crescents, and some other figures, continued in use in our own country until superseded by a true Heraldry; and may also be a.s.sumed to have prevailed in England in much earlier times.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Nos. 5 and 6.--Lance Flags--Bayeux Tapestry.]

In still more remote ages a more decided heraldic system was displayed upon signets, coins, shields, and standards. In this ancient Heraldry, if so it may be termed, occasionally the important and characteristic quality of hereditary a.s.sociation in certain devices is apparent. Thus, Virgil (aeneid, vii. 657) a.s.signs to Aventinus "_insigne paternum_" upon his shield--his hereditary device, derived by him from his father. But these devices generally appear to have their significance in a greater or a less degree restricted, amongst the ancients, to certain particular incidents; consequently in all these examples there is nothing to show that the man who bore one device at one time, did not bear another device at another time.[1] For example, aeschylus, the Greek tragedian (B.C. 600), has recorded that Capaneus, when attacking the city of Thebes, bore on his shield the figure of a warrior carrying a lighted torch, with the motto, "I will fire the city!" But, on another occasion, we have reason to believe that the same Capaneus bore quite a different device, applicable to that other occasion; and this deprives these ancient devices, heraldic as they are in their general character, of that special personal a.s.sociation which true Heraldry requires and, indeed, implies. The beautiful painted vases, the works of Greek artists, that are discovered in such extraordinary numbers and in perfect preservation in some parts of Italy, constantly give most striking representations of the shields of ancient Greek warriors and other personages, with what appear heraldic devices displayed upon them.

These shields ill.u.s.trate, in a remarkable manner, both the appropriate significance of particular devices, and the usage then prevalent for a variety of devices to be borne on different occasions by the same individual. Shields upon vases in the collections in the Museum of the Louvre at Paris, and in the British Museum, where they are easy of access, contain a great variety of devices. The examples, Nos. 7, 8, 9, and 10, are from our own National Collections. No. 7, the shield black, the border and the pegasus red; No. 8, the shield black, and the two dolphins white; No. 9, the shield black, with a border adorned with red discs, the serpent white; No. 10, the shield black, with purple border, the three human legs conjoined white. The shields, Nos. 9 and 10, are both borne by the G.o.ddess ?T??? (Minerva); and the remarkable device displayed on No. 10 is also found on the coins of ancient Sicily. Other similar shields display lions, horses, dogs, wild boars, fish, birds, cl.u.s.ters of leaves, chariots and chariot-wheels, votive tripods, serpents, scorpions, with many others, including occasional examples of human figures. In another collection I have seen an anchor and an Amazon's bow. A device differing from that in No. 10 only in having the conjoined limbs in armour, will be found in our own English Heraldry to be the armorial ensign of the Isle of Man.

[Footnote 1: In his "Hand-book of Engraved Gems," Mr. King maintains that "the devices on the signets of the ancients were both hereditary and unalterable, like our armorial bearings;" but, at the same time, he admits that the "armorial bearings," which appear "on the shields of the Grecian heroes in the most ancient pictures extant, the Vase-paintings," "seem to have been a.s.sumed at the caprice of the individual, like the knight's _cognisances_ at tournaments in the days of chivalry, and not to have been hereditary." --"Hand-book," page 216. Almost immediately, however, Mr. King adds, that traditions exist which represent the mythic heroes bearing "engraved on their signets the same devices that decorated their shields." It would seem that the argument from such traditions would rather indicate the signet-devices to have been arbitrary, than the shield-devices to have been unalterable. While I readily admit the very interesting devices of antiquity to possess decided heraldic attributes, I cannot consider Mr. King to have shown that, as a general rule, they were held by the ancients themselves to have been either "unalterable" or "hereditary."

Possibly, further light may be thrown upon the hereditary quality of ancient Heraldry: but, I certainly do not expect to see any evidence adduced, which would establish a line of descent connecting the Mediaeval Heraldry of England with any heraldic system of cla.s.sic antiquity.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Nos. 7-10.--Ancient Shields from Greek Vases.]

This Heraldry of Antiquity is to be regarded as the predecessor, and not as the ancestor of the Heraldry of England. There may be much that is common to both; but, there is nothing to show the later system to have been a lineal descendant from the earlier. It would seem much more likely that Heraldry, when it had been evolved, adopted ready made the emblems of an older civilisation for its own purpose, often appropriating at the same time the symbolism attaching to the emblems.

The Heraldry, therefore, that has flourished, declined, and now is in the act of reviving in our own country in almost the full vigour of its best days, I shall treat as an independent science, proceeding from a single source, and from thence flowing onwards with varied fortunes, side by side with the chequered chronicles of England. In the course of its progress from the palmy days of EDWARD III., it has had to encounter, in a degree without precedent or parallel, that most painful and mischievous of trials--the excessive admiration of injudicious friends. Hence, Heraldry was brought into disrepute, and even into contempt, by the very persons who loved it with a genuine but a most unwise love. In process of time, no nonsense appeared too extravagant, and no fable too wild, to be engrafted upon the grave dignity of the Herald's early science. Better times at length have succeeded. Heraldry now has friends and admirers, zealous as of old, whose zeal is guided aright by a sound judgment in alliance with a pure taste. Very much already has been accomplished to sweep away the amazing ma.s.s of absurdities and errors which had overwhelmed our English Heraldry, by such men as Nicholas, Nichols, Courthope, Seton, Planche, Walford, Montagu, and Lower: and the good work goes on and prospers, with the most cheering a.s.surances of complete and triumphant success.