The Handbook to English Heraldry Part 2

The treatment of animate creatures in Heraldry requires a certain kind, and also a certain degree, of conventionalism. Here, as before, in the early Heralds we have excellent masters; but, here we must follow their teaching with more of reserve, and with cautious steps. We recognise the happy consistency of the conventionalism which they displayed in their representation of animate creatures, without any purpose to adopt it in the same degree with them. Had the early Heralds been more familiar with the living presence of the various creatures that they summoned to enter into their service, without a doubt they would have represented them with a much closer conformity to Nature. We must apply our better knowledge, as we may feel confident the early Heralds would have applied a similar knowledge had they been able to have acquired it. Heraldic animals of every kind--lions, eagles, dolphins, and all others--must be so far subjected to a conventional treatment, that they will not exhibit a _strictly_ natural appearance: and, on the other hand, being carefully preserved from all exaggerated conventionalisms, they must approach as near to Nature as a definite conventional rendering of natural truth will admit. The lions of the early Heralds, spirited beasts always, generally show a decided disposition to exhibit their heraldic sympathies in excess. They have in them rather too much that is heraldic conventionalism, and not quite enough that is natural lion. And, with the first symptoms of decline in heraldic Art, the treatment of lions showed signs of a tendency to carry conventionalism to the utmost extravagance. The same remarks are applicable to eagles. It must be added, however, that truly admirable examples of heraldic animals occasionally may be found as late even as the commencement of the sixteenth century, as in the chantry of Abbot Ramryge, in the Abbey Church at St. Alban's, and in King's College Chapel at Cambridge. It must be our care to blend together the true attributes of the living lion and eagle, and those also of other living creatures, with the traditional peculiarities of their heraldic representatives. And we must extend the corresponding application of the same principles of treatment to imaginary beings and heraldic monsters, as they occur in our Heraldry. The shield, No. 24, of Prince JOHN OF ELTHAM, younger brother of EDWARD III., finely sculptured with his effigy in alabaster, in Westminster Abbey (A.D. 1336), and in perfect preservation, gives us characteristic examples of lions of the best heraldic era, their frames, attenuated as they are, being perfect types of fierce elasticity. With this shield may be grouped others, having admirably suggestive examples of heraldic lions of a somewhat later date, which are preserved upon the monuments of EDWARD III. and the BLACK PRINCE, severally at Westminster and Canterbury. I shall refer to these fine shields again, and to other admirable examples with them, hereafter (Chapter IX.). The conventionalism in all these examples, however felicitous the manner in which it is treated in them, is very decidedly exaggerated. These examples, and others such as these, are not the less valuable to us because their teaching includes an ill.u.s.tration of the excesses that we must always be careful to avoid. I may here observe, that on the subject of armorial Art I leave my examples (all of them selected from the most characteristic authorities, and engraved with scrupulous fidelity) for the most part to convey their own lessons and suggestions: my own suggestion to students being that, in such living creatures as they may represent in their compositions, while they are careful to preserve heraldic consistency and to express heraldic feeling, they exhibit beauty of form coupled with freedom of action and an appropriate expression. "Freedom of action" I intend to imply more than such skilful drawing, as will impart to any particular creature the idea of free movement of frame and limb: it refers also to repeated representations of the same creature, under the same heraldic conditions of motive and att.i.tude. And, here "freedom of action" implies those slight, yet significant, modifications of minor details which, without in the least degree affecting armorial truth, prevent even the semblance of monotonous reiteration. Thus, at Beverley, in the Percy Shrine in the Minster, upon a shield of England the three lions are all heraldically the same; but, there is nothing of sameness in them nevertheless, because in each one there is some little variety in the turn of the head, or in the placing of the paws, or in the sweep of the tail. And again, in Westminster Hall, the favourite badge of Richard II., a white hart, chained, and in an att.i.tude of rest, is repeated as many as eighty-three times; and all are equally consistent with heraldic truth and accuracy, without any one of them being an exact counterpart of any other. In Nos. 25 and 26 two examples are shown from this remarkable series of representations of this beautiful badge, each one different from the other, and yet both really the same.

CHAPTER IV

THE GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY

SECTION I

_The Language of Heraldry-- The Nomenclature-- Style and Forms of Expression-- Blazon-- The Shield: its Parts, Points, Divisions, Dividing Lines, Varieties of Form, and Heraldic Treatment._

"The shield hangs down on every breast."

--LORD OF THE ISLES.

THE LANGUAGE OF HERALDRY.--The original language of English Heraldry was the Norman-French, which may also be designated Anglo-Norman, habitually spoken at the Court of England in the early heraldic era. After a while, a mixed language succeeded, compounded of English and the original Norman-French; and this mixed language still continues in use.

NOMENCLATURE.--Like its language, the Nomenclature of English Heraldry is of a mixed character, in part technical and peculiar to itself, and in part the same that is in common use. Thus, many of the figures and devices of Heraldry have their peculiar heraldic names and t.i.tles, while still more bear their ordinary designations. Descriptive terms, whether expressed in English or in French (Anglo-Norman), are generally employed with a special heraldic intention and significance. In the earliest Roll of Arms known to be now in existence, which was compiled (as appears from internal evidence) between the years 1240 and 1245, the Nomenclature is the same that is found in Rolls and other heraldic doc.u.ments of a later date. This fact of the existence of a definite Nomenclature at that time, proves that before the middle of the thirteenth century the Heraldry of England was subject to a systematic course of treatment, and had become established and recognised as a distinct and independent Science.

STYLE AND FORMS OF EXPRESSION.--With the Nomenclature, a settled Style and certain fixed technical Forms of Expression were introduced and accepted in the thirteenth century; and, since that period, the Style and Forms of Expression have undergone only such comparatively slight modifications as tended to render them both more complete and more consistent. As it was at the first, it still is the essence of heraldic language to be concise yet complete, expressive, and also abounding in suggestions. Not a syllable is expressed that is not absolutely necessary; not a syllable omitted, the absence of which might possibly lead to any doubt or uncertainty. In the more matured style, the repet.i.tion of any important word in the same sentence is scrupulously avoided; and, where it would be required, another form of expression is subst.i.tuted in its stead. Much meaning also is left to be implied and understood, through inference, either based upon certain accepted rules and established heraldic usages for the arrangement of the words and clauses of a sentence, or derived from the natural qualities and characteristic conditions of certain figures and devices: but, nothing is ever left to be inferred when an uncertain inference might possibly be adopted, or that can be understood clearly and with certainty only by means of an explicit statement. Superfluous words and particles of all kinds are altogether omitted. Descriptive epithets follow the nouns to which they refer: as, a _red cross_ is styled a _cross gules_. The general rules, by which the arrangement of the words in heraldic descriptive sentences is determined, will be found in the last subdivision of this chapter. Examples of heraldic Language, Nomenclature, Style and Forms of Expression, will be given in abundance throughout the following chapters and sections of this treatise. With these examples students will do well to familiarise themselves: then, let them prepare additional examples for that "practice," which (as Parker's "Glossary of Heraldry" says, p. 60) "alone will make perfect,"

by writing down correct descriptions of heraldic compositions from the compositions themselves; after which process they may advantageously reverse the order of their study, and make drawings of these same (or, if they prefer it, of some other) heraldic compositions from their own written descriptions of them.

When any heraldic description of a figure, device, or composition has been completed, a statement is made to signify the person, family, community, or realm whose armorial ensign it may be. This is done by simply writing the appropriate name, after the last word of the description; or, by prefixing the word "for" before the name when it is placed in the same position. Thus, a description of the three lions of England is to be followed by the word--"ENGLAND"; or, by the formula--"for ENGLAND." If preferred, with equal consistency the arrangement may be reversed, and the Name, with or without the prefix "for," may precede the description: thus--"ENGLAND," or "For ENGLAND,"

three lions, &c. It is to be borne in remembrance, that armorial ensigns are personal inheritances, and--with the exception of Sovereign Princes--by comparison but very rarely relate to _t.i.tles_ and _Dignities_.

BLAZON, BLAZONING, BLAZONRY.--When a knight entered the lists at a tournament, his presence was announced by sound of trumpet or horn, after which the officers of arms, the official Heralds, declared his armorial insignia--they "blazoned" his Arms. This term, "to blazon,"

derived from the German word "_blasen_," signifying "to blow a blast on a horn" (or, as one eminent German Herald prefers, from the old German word "_blaze_" or "_bla.s.se_," "a mark" or "sign"), in Heraldry really denotes either to _describe_ any armorial figure, device, or composition in correct heraldic language; or to _represent_ such figure, device, or composition accurately in form, position, arrangement, and colouring.

But, as a matter of practical usage, pictorial representation is usually allied to the word "emblazon." The word "blazon" also, as a noun, may be employed with a general and comprehensive signification to denote "Heraldry."

THE SHIELD:--ITS PARTS, POINTS, AND DIVISIONS.--Their Shield, which the knights of the Middle Ages derived from the military usage of antiquity, and which contributed in so important a degree to their own defensive equipment, was considered by those armour-clad warriors to be peculiarly qualified to display their heraldic blazonry. And, in later times, when armour had ceased to be worn, and when shields no longer were actually used, a Shield continued to be regarded as the most appropriate vehicle for the same display. The Shield, then, which with its armorial devices const.i.tutes a _Shield of Arms_, always is considered to display its blazonry upon its face or external surface. This blazoned surface of his shield the bearer, when holding it before his person, presents (or would present, were he so to hold it) towards those who confront him. The right and the left sides of the person of the bearer of a Shield, consequently, are _covered_ by the right and left (in heraldic language, the _dexter_ and _sinister_) sides of his shield: and so, from this it follows that the dexter and sinister sides of a Shield of Arms are severally _opposite_ to the left and the right hands of all observers.

The Parts and Points of an heraldic Shield, which is also ent.i.tled an "_Escutcheon_," are thus distinguished:--

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 27.]

No. 27. A, _The chief_: B, _The Base_: C, _The Dexter Side_: D, _The Sinister Side_: E, _The Dexter Chief_: F, _The Sinister Chief_: G, _The Middle Chief_: H, _The Dexter Base_: I, _The Sinister Base_: K, _The Middle Base_:[2]

L, _The Honour Point_: M, _The Fesse Point_.

[Footnote 2: This term is very seldom if ever used.]

In blazoning the Divisions of a Shield, the term "_Per_," signifying "in the direction of," is employed sometimes alone, and sometimes (having the same signification) preceded by the word "parted" or "party." The primary Divisions of a Shield are indicated in the following diagrams, Nos. 28-35:--

[Ill.u.s.tration: Nos. 28-30, 31-33, 34-35.]

No. 28. _Per Pale_, or _Parted per Pale_, or _Party per Pale_.

No. 29. _Per Fesse_, or _Parted per Fesse_.

No. 30. (Nos. 28 and 29 together) _Per Cross_, or _Quarterly_ (the latter is the more usual term).

No. 31. _Per Bend._ No. 32. _Per Bend Sinister._

No. 33. (Nos. 31 and 32 together) _Per Saltire._

No. 34. _Per Chevron._

No. 35. Tierced in pale (divided into three equal divisions by two vertical lines), a form seldom met with in English Heraldry. Technically this in English Heraldry is simply the representation of a pale. (See No. 87.)

To these divisions should strictly be added the further division _gyronny_ (No. 147); but neither the term _per_ nor _parted per_ is ever employed in this connection. As will be seen, it is a combination of the forms shown in Nos. 30 and 33.

A Shield may be further divided and subdivided, thus:--

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 36.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 37.]

It may be divided into any number of _Quarterings_ by lines drawn _per pale_ and _per fesse_, cutting each other, as in No. 36, which Shield is _quarterly of eight_: in like manner the _Quarterings_ of any Shield, whatever their number (which need not be an even number), are blazoned as, _quarterly of twelve, &c._ This, to whatever extent the dividing of the Shield may be carried, is _simple Quartering_. Again: a quartered Shield may have one or more of its primary quarters, or every one of them, _quartered_: this, which is the subdivision of a part, _the quartering of quarters_, is _compound Quartering_: for example, in No.

37, the Shield is first divided into the _four primary quarters_, severally marked A, B, C, D; then, so far as the quarters A, B, D are concerned, the "simple quartering" is subjected to the process of "compound quartering," and quarters A, D are _quarters quarterly_, and B is _a quarter quarterly of six_, while C remains unaffected by the secondary process. The terms "_quarterly quartering_" and "_quarterly quartered_" are used to signify such secondary quartering as is exemplified in A, B, D of No. 37. The four primary quarters (A, B, C, D of No. 37) are distinguished as _Grand Quarters_: consequently, the quarter B of this example is the _second grand quarter, quarterly of six_. This term "Grand Quarter" may be employed to distinguish any primary quarter when any quarter in the Shield is "quarterly quartered."

DIVIDING and BORDER LINES, in addition to simple right lines and curves, a.s.sume the forms that are represented in the next diagram, No. 38:--

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 38.]

No. 38. A. _Indented_ B. _Dancette_ C. _Wavy_ or _Undee_ (2 varieties) D. _Engrailed_ E. _Invected_ or _Invecked_ F. _Embattled_ G. _Raguly_ H. _Nebuly_ (2 varieties) I. _Dovetailed_

Two others, less frequently met with, however, are _rayonne_ and _flory-counter-flory_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 39.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 40.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 41.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 42.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 43.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 44.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 45.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 46.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 47.]

THE SHIELD: ITS VARIETIES OF FORM.--The front face of an heraldic Shield is generally flat; but sometimes the curved edges are made to appear as if they had been slightly rounded off. Some early Shields are represented as _bowed_--hollowed, that is, in order to cover more closely the person of the bearer, and consequently having a convex external contour, as in No. 39. In early examples of bowed Shields the whole of the armorial blazonry is sometimes displayed on the face of that portion of the Shield which is shown. A _ridge_, dividing them in pale, but not necessarily in any way acting as an heraldic dividing line, appears in many Shields, and particularly in those of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The large elongated Shields that have been ent.i.tled "kite-shaped," and which were in use in the days of RICHARD I. and amongst the Barons of Magna Charta, were superseded by the smaller "heater-shaped" Shield as early as the reign of HENRY III.

The most beautiful forms of this Shield are represented in Nos. 40, 41, and 42: of these, No. 40 has its curves described about the sides of an inverted equilateral triangle, and then they are prolonged by vertical lines towards the chief: in Nos. 41, 42, the sides curve from the chief to the base. The forms of Shields admit of various slight modifications, to adjust them to varying conditions. Towards the close of the fourteenth century the form of the Shield is found to undergo some singular changes: and, at later periods, changes in form of this kind became generally prevalent. Nos. 43, 44, exemplify such changes as these: they also show the curved notch that was cut in the dexter chief of the Shields of the same periods, to permit the lance to pa.s.s through it as the Shield hung down on the breast: a Shield so pierced is said to be _a bouche_. The Surface of the Shield, No. 43, which is in the Episcopal palace at Exeter, is wrought into a series of shallow hollows, which curve gracefully from the central ridge, some to the dexter, and others to the sinister. Such a Shield as this may be consistently used in our own Heraldry: but, since now we do not a.s.sociate lances laid in rest with our heraldic Shields, it appears desirable that we should not draw our Shields _a bouche_. In recent Heraldry the Shield has commonly been made to appear such an unsightly and un-heraldic deformity as is represented in No. 45. Instead of a true heraldic Shield also, a rounded oval with a convex surface, called a _cartouche_, or _cartouche shield_, No. 46, is occasionally used for the display of armorial blazonry; or a circle is subst.i.tuted for such an oval. These cartouches probably owe their origin to the usage of placing a Garter of the Order about a Shield (prevalent in the fifteenth century), and to a subsequent period, when we find the omission of the exact outline of the actual Shield. But their frequent appearance in Ecclesiastical Heraldry suggests that perhaps they were deliberately preferred to the purely military shield.

A _Lozenge_, No. 47, takes the place of a Shield to bear the arms of Ladies, with the exception of the Sovereign; this very inconvenient subst.i.tute for the heraldic Shield was introduced early in the fourteenth century.