The Handbook to English Heraldry Part 8

Natural Objects of all kinds are blazoned as Charges of Heraldry, and they will be found described and ill.u.s.trated in their proper places in Chapter X. They include the _Sun_, the _Moon_, the _Stars_; also such terrestrial objects as _Trees_, _Flowers_, _Fruits_, _Sheaves and Ears of Corn_, _Leaves_, _Chaplets_, _&c._ And with these Charges I may group the always beautiful Fleur de Lys, and the Trefoil, Quatrefoil, Cinquefoil, and Sixfoil.

Of the various Artificial Figures and Devices that Heralds have charged upon Shields of Arms, it will be unnecessary for me to give detailed descriptions, except when either the heraldic name may require explanation, or some special circ.u.mstances connected with any particular figure or device may impart to it peculiar claims for attention. Again I refer to the "Glossary" for notices and examples of all Charges of this cla.s.s--Annulets, Buckles, Castles, Crowns, Cups, Horseshoes, Keys, Knots, Sickles, Stirrups, Trumpets, and many others.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 166A.--Crescent]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 166B.--Increscent]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 166C.--Decrescent]

In blazoning Charges of various cla.s.ses, Heralds employ _appropriate Epithets and descriptive Terms_, of which the following are characteristic examples:--The _Sun_ is "_in splendour_." The _Moon_, when full, is "_in her complement_": she is a "_Crescent_" when she appears in No. 166, A: she is "_Increscent_" when as in No. 166, B: and she is "_Decrescent_" when as in No. 166, C. Animals and Birds of prey are said to be "_armed_" of their talons, teeth, and claws. All horned animals, also, except Stags and Antelopes, are "_armed_" of their horns; and a c.o.c.k is "_armed_" of his spurs; whilst Griffins and birds of prey are "_armed_" of their beaks and claws (_i.e._ the part of the leg which is unfeathered). Animals are "_hoofed_" or "_unguled_" of their hoofs; and "_langued_" of their tongues. Fierce animals are "_vorant_" of their prey, when represented in the act of devouring it. Deer, when reposing, are "_lodged_" Nos. 25 and 26: when standing, and looking out from the Shield, No. 167, "_at gaze_": when in easy motion, they are termed "_trippant_," or sometimes the word "_tripping_" is subst.i.tuted, No.

168: and when in rapid motion, they are "_courant_," "_at speed_," or sometimes described as "_in full course_," No. 169. The male Stag is sometimes termed a "_Hart_," and the female a "_Hind_." There is really a distinction between the Buck and the Stag, but it is very usually disregarded in Heraldry. The antlers of the Hart are "_Attires_," their branches are "_Tynes_"; and they are said to be "_attired_" of their antlers. A Stag's head full-faced, but without the neck, as No. 170, is "_cabossed_" or "_caboshed_."

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 167.--At Gaze.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 169.--At Speed.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 168.--Tripping.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 170.--Stag's Head Cabossed.]

Eagles and Hawks with expanded wings, as in No. 206, are "_displayed_."

Expanded wings may be "_elevated_," or, if drooping, "_inverted_" or "_in lure_." Birds about to take wing are "_rising_"; when in flight, they are "_volant_"; when at rest, they are "_close_." A Bird "_trusses_" its prey. A Peac.o.c.k having its tail expanded is "_in its pride_"; and this same expression is applied to the Turkey. A Pelican, when feeding its young, is said to be "_in her piety_," but may be merely "_vulning herself_" if the young are not represented. A Swan, when blazoned "_proper_," is white with red legs and black beak.

Fish, represented swimming in fesse, are "_naiant_"; if they are in pale, they are "_hauriant_," No. 164; but if their heads are to the base, the term "_urinant_" is said to apply, but I cannot say I have so far come across an authenticated instance of the use of this word; if their bodies are bent, as the Dolphin is generally represented, they are "_embowed_," No. 163. Fish, also, are said to be "_finned_" of their fins. Insects are "_volant_." Reptiles are "_gliding_"; or, if they are twined into knots, "_nowed_." Trees of mature growth are "_accrued_"; when with leaves, "_in foliage_" (but these two terms are so seldom used that they may be entirely disregarded); with fruit or seeds, "_fructed_"

or "_seeded_"; if without leaves, "_blasted_"; and if their roots are exposed, "_eradicated_." Branches or leaves torn off are "_slipped_."

The terms which denote the att.i.tudes of Lions, all of them described in the next chapter, are equally applicable to other animals. Some other descriptive terms, not noticed here, will be found in the "Glossary" in Chapter X.

CHAPTER IX

THE GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY

SECTION VI

_The Lion and the Eagle in Heraldry_

"The LION and a King of Beasts."

--SHAKESPEARE, _Richard II._

"The EAGLE, enn.o.bled by Nature in as high a degree of n.o.bility as the chiefest of the terrestrial animals, is the most honourable bearing of Birds."

--GWILLIM (_Edition of 1724_).

The regal dignity of the LION amongst the creatures that are quadrupeds, like himself, would naturally secure for him a position of corresponding eminence in Heraldry. From the dawn of the heraldic era, accordingly, the Lion is blazoned on the Shields of Sovereigns, Princes, and n.o.bles.

The tressured Lion has been already noticed upon the Royal Shield of SCOTLAND, No. 138; and a crowned Lion has also appeared in the same att.i.tude, borne by an English Prince, RICHARD, Earl of CORNWALL, No.

140. From the time that they first possessed any true armorial insignia, the Sovereigns of the Realm of ENGLAND have borne Lions upon their Royal Shield. A Lion was the Ensign of the Native Princes of WALES, as he was of the Kings of LEON, of NORWAY, and of DENMARK, and of the Counts of HOLLAND, HAINAULT, EU, &c. And, in like manner, the Lion was in high favour with the most n.o.ble and powerful Barons of England--the MOWBRAYS, BOHUNS, LONGESPEES, FITZ-ALANS, LACIES, PERCIES, SEGRAVES, and such as they.

It was a necessary consequence of his great popularity that the Lion of Heraldry should be blazoned in various att.i.tudes, and also variously tinctured, otherwise it would not be possible duly to distinguish the Lions of different Shields. Heralds of all countries appear readily to have permitted their Lions to lay aside their natural tawny hue, and in its stead to a.s.sume the heraldic _or_, _argent_, _azure_, _gules_, and _sable_; but Continental Heralds were not generally disposed to recognise in their Lions any other att.i.tude than the one which they held to be consistent with their Lion character, instincts, and habits--erect, that is, with one hind paw only on the ground, looking forward towards their prey, so as to show but one eye, and evidently in the act of preparing to spring. This undoubtedly most characteristic att.i.tude is _rampant_, No. 171: and only when he was in this rampant att.i.tude did the early Heralds consider any Lion to be a Lion, and blazon him by his true name. A Lion walking and looking about him, the early Heralds held to be acting the part of a leopard: consequently, when he was in any such att.i.tude, they blazoned him as "_a leopard_."

The animal bearing that name bore it simply as an heraldic t.i.tle, which distinguished a Lion in a particular att.i.tude. These heraldic "leopards"

were drawn in every respect as other heraldic "lions," without spots or any leopard_ish_ distinction whatever. This explains the usage, retained till late in the fourteenth century, which a.s.signed to the Lions of the Royal Shield of England the name of "leopards." They were so called, not by the enemies of England for derision and insult, as some persons, in their ignorance of early Heraldry, have been pleased both to imagine and to a.s.sert; but the English Kings and Princes, who well knew their "Lions" to be Lions, in blazon styled them "leopards," because they also knew that Lions in the att.i.tude of their "Lions" were heraldic "leopards." When at length the necessity of varying the att.i.tude of their Lions was admitted by all Heralds, in consequence of the greatly increased numbers of the bearers of Lions, some strict adherents to the original distinctive nomenclature blazoned any Lion that was _not rampant_ by the compound term of a "_lion-leopard_," or a "_lion-leoparde_." But that controversy has long been at rest.

The following terms are now in use to denote the various att.i.tudes of the Lion in Heraldry:--

_Rampant_: erect, one hind paw on the ground, the other three paws elevated, the animal looking forward and having his tail elevated, No.

171. _Rampant Guardant_: as before, but looking out from the Shield, No.

172. _Rampant Reguardant_: as before, but looking backwards.

_Pa.s.sant_: walking, three paws on the ground, the dexter fore-paw being elevated, looking forward, the tail displayed over the back, No. 173.

_Pa.s.sant Guardant_: as before, but looking out from the Shield, No. 174.

_Pa.s.sant Reguardant_: as before, but looking backwards.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 171.--Rampant.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 172.--Rampant Guardant.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 173.--Pa.s.sant.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 174.--Pa.s.sant Guardant.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 175.--Statant.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 176.--Statant Guardant.]

_Statant_: standing, his four paws on the ground, and looking before him, No. 175. _Statant Guardant_: as before, but looking out from the Shield, No. 176: in this example the Lion has his tail extended, but this would be specified in the blazon, as it is an unusual position. In like manner, if the tail of a Lion in any other att.i.tude be extended, there must be a statement to that effect.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 177.--Couchant.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 178.--Sejant.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 179.--Dormant.]

_Sejant_: sitting down with his head elevated, No. 178. If he looks out from the Shield, the word _Guardant_ is to be added. A Scottish Lion sejant usually has his fore paws raised in the air, and in English terms of blazon would be described as "_Sejant erect_" or "_Sejant rampant_."

_Couchant_: is at rest, the fore legs stretched on the ground, as No.

177.

_Dormant_: asleep, head resting on fore paws, No. 179.

_Salient_: in the act of springing, the hind paws on the ground, both the fore paws elevated, No. 180.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 180.--Salient.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 181.--Double-queued.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 182.--Coward.]