Part 9 (1/2)

_Queue fourchee_: having a forked tail.

_Double-queued_: two tails, as No. 181, which is a _lion rampant double-queued_.

_Coward: pa.s.sant reguardant_, his tail between his legs, No. 182.

Two Lions rampant, when face to face, are _Counter rampant_, or _Combatant_: when back to back, they are _Addorsed_: when pa.s.sant or salient in contrary directions, they are _Counter pa.s.sant_ or _Counter salient_.

Lions, whatever their tincture, except it be red, or they are charged on a field of that tincture, are _armed and langued gules_; but _azure_ in the case of either of these exceptions, unless the contrary be specified in the blazon. When several Lions appear in one composition, or when they are drawn to a comparatively very small scale, they are sometimes blazoned as ”_Lioncels_.” This term ”_Lioncel_,” it must be added, when used alone, denotes a _small Lion rampant_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 183.--Lion's Head.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 184.--Lion's Face.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 185.--Lion's Jambe.]

A Lion's _head_ is a Charge: it may be _erased_, as in No. 183; or cut off smooth, when it is _couped_. A Lion's _face_ also is a Charge, No.

184; so is his _jambe_ or _paw_, No. 185. A _demi-lion rampant_ is the upper half of his body and the extremity of his tufted tail, as in No.

186.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 186.--Demi-Lion Rampant.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 187.--England.]

The LIONS OF ENGLAND are _golden Lions leoparde_, three in number, placed one above the other on a red s.h.i.+eld. They are blazoned--_Gu., three Lions pa.s.s. guard., in pale, or_, No. 187.

A Lion in this att.i.tude, of this tincture, and on a field gules, may be blazoned as a ”Lion of England.” These three Lions _first_ appear upon the second Great Seal of RICHARD I., A.D. 1194, on the s.h.i.+eld of the King, No. 188. An earlier Seal, used by Prince JOHN before his brother's accession, has a s.h.i.+eld charged with _two_ Lions only, and they are _pa.s.sant_, No. 189. The first Great Seal of the lion-hearted King has a s.h.i.+eld, bowed in its contour, and charged with a _single_ Lion rampant facing to the sinister, or _counter-rampant_, No. 190; and it has been conjectured that, were the whole face of this s.h.i.+eld visible, a second Lion rampant facing to the dexter would appear, thus charging the s.h.i.+eld with _two Lions combattant_; this, however, is a conjecture which is not supported by the authority of many s.h.i.+elds of the same form. A red s.h.i.+eld charged with _two golden Lions pa.s.sant guardant in pale_ (No.

22), and therefore closely resembling No. 189, as I have already shown, has been a.s.signed to WILLIAM I., and his two sons and his grandson, WILLIAM II., HENRY I., and STEPHEN. The s.h.i.+eld bearing the three Lions, No. 187, has been a.s.signed to HENRY II., but it first makes its appearance on the Great Seal of his son. The probability is that up to this period the device was simply a lion, indeterminate in position or numbers. This same s.h.i.+eld has continued, from the time of RICHARD I., to display the ROYAL ARMS of the REALM OF ENGLAND: how, in the course of ages, these Arms become grouped with other insignia, I shall presently have to show.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 188.--Richard I.--2nd Gt. Seal.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 190.--Richard I.--1st Gt. Seal.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 189.--Prince John.--Seal.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 191.--Le Strange.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 192.--Giffard.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 193.--Mowbray.]

The _Lion pa.s.sant_ is carefully distinguished in the earliest Rolls as a different Charge from the _Lion pa.s.sant guardant_. Thus (H. 3), for HAMON LE STRANGE--_Gu., two Lions pa.s.sant arg._, No. 191; and for JOHN GIFFARD--_Gu., three Lions pa.s.s. arg._, No. 192: for Sir NICHOLAS CAREW (E. 2),--_Or, three Lions pa.s.s. sa._

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 194.--De Lacy.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 195.--De Segrave.]

From the numerous early s.h.i.+elds which bear _Lions rampant_, I select the following examples, a.s.sociated with names ill.u.s.trious in English History. For ROGER DE MOWBRAY (H. 3)--_Gu., a Lion rampt. arg._, No.

193: this Coat is quartered by the present Lord MOWBRAY, SEGRAVE and STOURTON. For FITZ-ALAN, Earl of ARUNDEL--_Gu., a Lion rampt. or_ (H. 3), No. 193. For DE LACI, Earl of LINCOLN--_Or, a Lion rampt.

purpure_ (E. 2), No. 194. For Sir JOHN DE SEGRAVE (E. 2)--_Sa., a Lion rampt. arg., crowned or_, No. 195. For PERCY, Earl of NORTHUMBERLAND--_Or, a Lion rampt. az._, No 196: this s.h.i.+eld is drawn from the fine counter-seal of Sir HENRY DE PERCY, first Lord of Alnwick, who died A.D. 1315.

Two s.h.i.+elds of the DE BOHUNS, Nos. 114, 115, already described, exemplify the display of Lioncels as heraldic charges. An earlier s.h.i.+eld, charged with six Lioncels, but without any Ordinary, was borne by FAIR ROSAMOND'S son, WILLIAM LONGESPeE, Earl of SALISBURY, A.D. 1226: it is boldly sculptured with his n.o.ble effigy in Salisbury Cathedral, and it also appears upon his Seal--_Az., six Lioncels or_, No. 197. The Roll of Edward II., confirmed by his Seal, gives for Sir WM. DE LEYBOURNE the same composition, with a difference in the tincturing--_Az., six Lioncels arg._ Other members of the same family change these tinctures for _gules and or_, _gules and argent_, and _or and sable_ (E. 2). Examples of s.h.i.+elds which bear Lions or Lioncels with various other charges will be described and ill.u.s.trated in succeeding chapters.