The Handbook to English Heraldry Part 32

How the "three Leopards courant" of the shrewd chronicler of Carlaverock are identical with the "three Lions pa.s.sant guardant" of the Royal Shield of England I have already shown (see page 84). To the Norman Sovereigns of England, WILLIAM I., WILLIAM II., HENRY I., and STEPHEN (A.D. 1066-1154), the same Shield of Arms has been a.s.signed--_Gu., two lions pa.s.s. guard., in pale, or_, No. 22. It must be distinctly understood, however, that there exists no certain authority for these Arms.

In like manner, STEPHEN is also _said_ to have borne on a red Shield three golden _Sagittaries_, or Centaurs, with bows and arrows. And, again, HENRY II. is _considered_ to have added a third lion to the two on the Shield of his father, a _single golden lion pa.s.sant guardant on red_ being (also considered to be) the armorial ensign of the province of Aquitaine, acquired by HENRY in right of his Consort, ALIANORE.

As early as the reign of HENRY III., a Shield of Arms, No. 23, was a.s.signed to the Anglo-Saxon Kings: another Shield, No. 2, was a.s.signed to EDWARD THE CONFESSOR: and a third Shield, No. 3, to another sainted Anglo-Saxon Prince, EDMUND.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 22.--Royal Arms, supposed to have been borne before A.D. 1189.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 187.--Royal Arms, from A.D. 1189 to 1340.]

From the appearance of the Second Great Seal of RICHARD I., about A.D.

1195, all uncertainty concerning the Royal Arms of England is at an end, and they are borne as follows by the successive English Sovereigns:--

RICHARD I.: JOHN: HENRY III.: EDWARD I.: EDWARD II.: and EDWARD III., till the thirteenth year of his reign, A.D. 1340:--_Gu., three lions pa.s.sant guardant in pale or_,--No. 187.

EDWARD III., from the thirteenth year of his reign, when he claimed to be King of France as well as of England, and so styled himself: RICHARD II.: and HENRY IV., till about the fifth year of his reign:--_France Ancient and England quarterly_,--No. 252.

RICHARD II. sometimes bore the Arms of the CONFESSOR, No. 2, with his own, on a separate shield, as at Westminster Hall; and sometimes he impaled the Confessor's Arms with his own quartered Shield, the arms of the Confessor having the precedence.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 252.--Royal Arms from A.D. 1340 to about 1405.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 253.--Royal Arms from about A.D. 1405 to 1603.]

HENRY IV. from about 1405: HENRY V.: HENRY VI.: EDWARD IV.: EDWARD V.: RICHARD III.: HENRY VII.: HENRY VIII.: EDWARD VI.: MARY: and ELIZABETH, to A.D. 1603:--_France Modern and England Quarterly_, No. 253.

The Royal Shield of SCOTLAND, No. 138, first appears upon the Seal of ALEXANDER II. about A.D. 1235; and, as Mr. Seton well observes, the origin of its bearings "is veiled by the mists of Antiquity." The same Shield, without any modification or change, was borne by all the Sovereigns of Scotland.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 138.--Royal Arms of Scotland.]

JAMES I.: CHARLES I.: CHARLES II.: JAMES II.: WILLIAM III. and MARY: and ANNE, till May 1, 1707: _Quarterly_: 1 _and_ 4, _Grand Quarters, France Modern and England_ (No. 253): 2, _Grand Quarter, Scotland_ (No. 138): 3, _Grand Quarter--Az., a harp or, stringed arg., for Ireland_: No. 423.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 423.--Royal Arms of the Stuart Sovereigns.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 425.--Diagram of Shield of William III. and Mary.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 424.--Arms of Na.s.sau.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 426.--Diagram of Shield of William III. alone.]

WILLIAM III., as an elected Sovereign, charged his paternal shield of Na.s.sAU, No. 424--_Az., billettee, a lion rampt. or_,--in pretence upon the Royal Shield: also, during the life of his Consort, till Dec. 28, 1694, he bore the _Stuart_ shield with _Na.s.sau_ in pretence on the dexter half of his Shield, and thus impaled in the sinister half of his Shield the same Stuart arms, as in the Diagram, No. 425, to denote their joint Sovereignty: the Shield represented in this Diagram, No. 425, bears the whole of No. 423 on its dexter half, with No. 424 in pretence; and on its sinister half it also bears the whole of No. 423. When he reigned alone, WILLIAM III. bore his own dexter half of the impaled Shield alone, as in the Diagram, No. 426: the Shield represented in this Diagram being the dexter half of No. 425.

Queen ANNE, from May 1, 1707, till 1714, bore the Royal Arms marshalled as in the Diagram, No. 427:--1 and 2, _England_ impaling _Scotland_; 3, _France Modern_ (No. 253); 4, _Ireland_ (the Harp, as in the third quarter of No. 423).

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 427.--Diagram of the Second Royal Shield of Queen Anne.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 428.--Arms of Hanover.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 429.--Diagram of the Royal Shield from A.D. 1714 to 1801.]

The Arms of HANOVER, on the accession of GEORGE I., August 1, 1714, were added to the Shield of the United Kingdom. This was accomplished by removing the charges (_England and Scotland impaled_) from the fourth quarter of the Shield, No. 427, and charging that quarter with the arms of _Hanover_ as they appear on the Shield, No. 428:--_Per pale and per chevron_, 1, _Gu., two lions pa.s.sant guardant or_, for _Brunswick_: 2, _Or, Semee of hearts, a lion rampt. az._, for _Lunenburgh_: 3, _Gu., a horse courant arg._, for _Westphalia_: 4, _Over all, on an inescutcheon gules, the golden crown of Charlemagne_. This marshalling is shown in the Diagram, No. 429, which represents a Shield bearing,--1 and 2, _England_ impaling _Scotland_; 3, _France Modern_; 4, _Ireland_; 5, _Hanover_ (as in No. 428, without the Crown).

On January 1, 1801, the Fleurs de Lys of France were removed from the Royal Shield of Great Britain, which then was marshalled as in the diagram, No. 430, _quarterly_, 1 _and_ 4, _England_; 2, _Scotland_; 3, _Ireland_; 5, _Hanover_--the shield of Hanover being ensigned with the _Electoral Bonnet_, No. 240, till 1816, but, after Hanover became a kingdom, with a _Royal Crown_ in place of the Electoral Bonnet from 1816 till 1837, as it appears in No. 428.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 430.--Diagram of the Royal Shield from A.D. 1801 to 1837.]

GEORGE I.: GEORGE II.: GEORGE III., till Jan. 1, 1801:--The arms indicated in the diagram, No. 429.

GEORGE III., till 1816:--The arms indicated in the diagram, No. 430, the inescutcheon ensigned with an electoral bonnet.

GEORGE III., after 1816: GEORGE IV.: WILLIAM IV.:--The same arms as No.

430, but the inescutcheon ensigned with a Royal Crown.

QUEEN VICTORIA, KING EDWARD VII., and KING GEORGE V.:--The same as No.

430, but without the inescutcheon, the four quarters being marshalled as on the Royal Standard, No. 416.

ROYAL CRESTS.

For ENGLAND:--_A golden lion statant guardant, imperially crowned_; a.s.sumed by EDWARD III., and by him borne on his Helm standing upon a Cap of Estate; retained from his time, and now borne standing on an Imperial Crown. No. 431.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 431.--Royal Crest of England.]

For SCOTLAND:--First Crest. _A lion statant guardant gu._, a.s.sumed by ROBERT II., about A.D. 1385; retained, and with some modifications used by his successors, till about A.D. 1550. Second Crest. _On an Imperial Crown, a lion sejant affronte erect gu.; imperially crowned, holding in the dexter paw a sword, and in the sinister paw a sceptre, both erect and ppr._; with the motto--IN: DEFENSE; a.s.sumed by JAMES V.; borne by MARY, and shown in her signet-ring, No. 432, about 1564; retained, and now in use.

ROYAL SUPPORTERS.

For ENGLAND. Of uncertain authority before HENRY VI., who bore _two white antelopes_: also, _a lion and a panther_, or _antelope_.

EDWARD IV.:--_A lion or_, or _argent, and a bull sable_: or, _two lions argent_: or, _a lion and a hart argent_.

RICHARD III.:--_A lion or and a boar arg._: or, _two boars arg._

HENRY VII.:--_A dragon gu., and a greyhound arg._: or, _two greyhounds arg._: or, _a lion or and a dragon gu._

HENRY VIII.:--_A lion or and a dragon gu._: or, _a dragon gu., and either a bull sable, a greyhound argent, or a c.o.c.k arg._

EDWARD VI.:--_A lion or, and a dragon gu._

MARY and ELIZABETH:--_A lion or, and a greyhound arg._, or _a dragon gu._

For SCOTLAND.--First Supporters:--_Two lions rampt. guard._; first seen on a Seal of JAMES I., A.D. 1429. Second Supporters: _Two silver unicorns, crowned with imperial and gorged with open crowns and chained or_; a.s.sumed by JAMES IV., and retained in use. On the signet of Queen MARY STUART, No. 432: for this beautiful cut once more I am indebted to Mr. Laing.

For the UNITED KINGDOM. Dexter Supporter: _A lion rampt. guard., royally crowned, or_. Sinister Supporter: _A unicorn rampt. arg., armed, crined and gorged with a coronet composed of crosses pattee and fleurs de lis, and chained or_. a.s.sumed by JAMES I. of Great Britain: retained, and still in use.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 432.--The Signet of Queen Mary Stuart, considerably enlarged.]

ROYAL MOTTOES.