The Handbook to English Heraldry Part 16

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 249.--Edmund, Earl of Lancaster.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 250.--Margaret, Queen of Edward I.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 251.--Seal of Margaret, second Queen of Edward I.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 252.--Shield of Edward III., A.D. 1340.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 253.--Shield of Henry IV., about A.D. 1405.]

_Fleur de lys._ The beautiful heraldic device so long identified with the history of France: No. 246 (from the monument of EDWARD III.?). The fleur de lys, derived, it would seem, from the flower of a lily resembling the iris, was adopted by LOUIS VII. (A.D. 1137-1180) as his royal ensign, and in due time it was regularly charged upon a true Shield of Arms. Originally the Royal Shield of France was--_Az., semee of fleurs de lys, or_; the fleurs de lys scattered freely over the field, and the Shield itself having the appearance of having been cut out of a larger object, over the whole surface of which the flowers had been _semee_. This Shield of France is distinguished as "_France Ancient_": No. 247. About A.D. 1365, CHARLES V. of France reduced the number of the fleurs de lys to three; and this Shield is now known as "_France Modern_": No. 248. In the year 1275, EDMUND, first Earl of Lancaster, the second son of HENRY III., married BLANCHE of Artois, when he differenced his shield of England with _a label of France--a blue label charged on each point with three golden fleurs de lys_. No. 249, thus, for the first time did the armorial insignia of England and France appear together upon the same Shield. In 1299 EDWARD I. married his second Queen, MARGARET of France, and then this royal lady placed on one of her Seals a Shield of England and France dimidiated: No. 250. On another of her Seals, a very n.o.ble example of the Seal-engraver's art, Queen MARGARET displayed the Shield of King EDWARD I., her husband, _surrounded, on the field of the Seal, with her father's fleurs de lys_: No. 251. On the Seals of ISABELLE of France, Queen of EDWARD II., the same dimidiated shield, and another shield quartering the arms of England with _France Ancient_ and two other French coats (_Navarre_ and _Champagne_) appear. Then Prince JOHN of ELTHAM charged a "bordure of France" _upon his shield_, No. 24; thus applying the suggestion of the Seal of Queen MARGARET, No. 251, in such a manner as was consistent with the advanced condition of heraldic art. On his accession in 1327, EDWARD III. placed a fleur de lys on each side of the Shield of England upon his Great Seal: and in 1340, when he claimed the crown of France, EDWARD _quartered France Ancient with his lions of England_: No. 252.

Shortly after his accession, perhaps in 1405, in order to conform to the altered blazonry of the French sovereigns, HENRY IV. quartered _France Modern_ on his shield: No. 253. The position of the three fleurs de lys was more than once changed in the Royal Shield of England (as I shall hereafter show more particularly) after the accession of the STUARTS; and they were not finally removed till the first year of the nineteenth century. The fleur de lys is also borne on many English Shields, disposed in various ways. In modern cadency the fleur de lys is the difference of the sixth son, or house.

_Fleurettee_, _Florettee_. Terminating in, or bordered with, fleurs de lys; also, _semee de lys_.

_Fleurie_, or _Fleury_. Ending as No. 100; also, _semee de lys_.

_Flexed._ Bowed, bent.

_Flighted._ Feathered, as arrows are.

_Fly._ The length, and also the side of a flag farthest from the staff.

_Foliated._ Crisped, or formed like a leaf.

_Fountain._ No. 153.

_Fourchee_, _Queue Fourchee_. A term applied to a lion with a forked tail.

_Fret_, or _Frette_. A subordinary: No. 148. _Frettee_, _Fretty_: covered with fretwork: No. 149.

_Fructed._ Bearing fruit or seeds.

_Furs._ See p. 41: Nos. 57-65.

_Fusil._ An elongated Lozenge: No. 20A, p. 70. _Fusillee_, or _Fusilly_.

A field entirely composed of Fusils, all lying in the same plane.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Nos. 254, 255.--Fylfot.]

_Fylfot._ A peculiar cruciform figure, supposed to have a mystic signification, found in military and ecclesiastical decorations in England, and on Eastern coins, &c.: Nos. 254, 255; the latter example is from the monument of Bishop BRONs...o...b.., in Exeter Cathedral.

_Gad_, _Gadlyng_. A spike, k.n.o.b, or other figure, projecting from the knuckles of gauntlets.

_Galley._ An ancient ship. (See _Lymphad_.)

_Garb._ A sheaf of wheat; if of any other grain, this to be specified.

_Garnished._ Adorned in a becoming manner.

_Garter, Order of the._ See Chapter XIX.

_Garter King-of-Arms_. The chief of the official Heralds of England, and officer of arms of the Order of the Garter. (See _Herald_.)

_Gemelles._ See _Bars Gemelles_.

_Gem-Ring._ A ring for the finger, set with a jewel.

_Genet._ A spotted animal, somewhat like a marten: a badge of Queen JOANNA of Navarre.

_George, Saint._ The Patron Saint of England. The circ.u.mstances which led to his a.s.sociation with England are unknown. His Shield of arms, _a red cross on a silver field_, first appears in English Heraldry in the fourteenth century: No. 1.

_George, The._ A mounted figure of the Saint in the act of piercing the dragon with his lance, and worn as a pendant to the collar of the Order of the Garter; added to the insignia of the Order, with the Collar, by HENRY VII. The _Lesser George_ has the same group on an enamelled field, and surrounded by the Garter of the Order, the whole forming a "jewel,"

generally oval in shape: it was introduced by HENRY VIII., and is now worn pendent from the dark-blue ribbon of the Order, the ribbon pa.s.sing over the left shoulder and the jewel hanging on the right side of the wearer. Originally, this "Lesser George" was worn from either a gold chain or a black ribbon: by Queen ELIZABETH the colour of the ribbon was changed to sky-blue, and it a.s.sumed its present darker hue in the reign of CHARLES II.

_Gerattyng._ Differencing by the introduction of small charges. It is an early term, now obsolete.

_Gimmel-ring._ Two annulets, interlaced.

_Girt_, _Girdled_. Encircled, or bound round.

_Gonfannon._ A long flag, pointed or swallow-tailed at the fly, and displayed from a transverse bar attached to a staff.

_Gorged._ Encircled round the throat.

_Gouttee_, _Guttee_. Sprinkled over with drops either of gold--_gouttee d'or_; of silver--_d'eau_; of blue--_de larmes_ (tears); of red--_de sang_ (blood); or of black--_de poix_ (pitch).

_Grand Quarters._ The four primary divisions of a Shield, when it is divided _quarterly_: Nos. 30, 36, 37. The term "Grand Quarter" may be used to signify a primary quarter or division of a quartered Shield or Coat, and to distinguish such a quarter when _it is quartered_.

_Grieces._ Steps.

_Guardant._ Looking out from the field: Nos. 172, 174, 176, 187.

_Guige._ A Shield-belt, worn over the right shoulder, and frequently represented in heraldic compositions as if sustaining a Shield of arms: Nos. 48, 49.

_Gules._ Red: No. 53.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 256.--Shield of R. de Gorges.]

_Gurges_, or _Gorges_. A charge formed of a spiral line of blue on a white field, and supposed to represent a whirlpool: borne (H. 3) by R.

DE GORGES: No. 256.

_Gyron._ A Subordinary. _Gyronny_. A field divided into Gyrons: No. 147.

(See page 70.)

_Habited._ Clothed.

_Hames_, _Heames_. Parts of horses' harness.

_Hammer_, or _Martel_. Represented in blazon much in the same shape as the implement in common use (H. 3).