Part 8 (1/2)

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 s.h.i.+elds 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 s.h.i.+eld, 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 s.h.i.+elds of Sovereigns, Princes, and n.o.bles.

The tressured Lion has been already noticed upon the Royal s.h.i.+eld 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 s.h.i.+eld. 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 s.h.i.+elds. 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_.”