Part 28 (1/2)
[Footnote 7: See Frontispiece.]
CHAPTER XIV
CRESTS
”On high their glittering crests they toss.” --LORD OF THE ISLES.
”Then he bound Her token on his helmet.” --ELAINE.
The idea of a CREST, of some accessory specially designed to form its crowning adornment, appears inseparable from the existence and use of a Helm. The Warriors and Warrior Divinities of cla.s.sic antiquity are represented to us, wearing head-pieces richly crested: and, in the Middle Ages, had no other Heraldry ever been devised, a.s.suredly ornaments of some kind would have been placed on helms and basinets, and these insignia would have been held in high esteem and honour.
Accordingly, about the time that Coat-Armour became hereditary, having been reduced to a system and accepted as an independent science, heraldic Crests began to be worn as honourable distinctions of the most exalted dignity by the mediaeval chivalry.
[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 375.--Richard I.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 376.--Henry de Perci.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 377.--Henry de Laci.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 378.--Seal of Alexander de Balliol, A.D. 1292.]
Upon the Second Great Seal of RICHARD I. the cylindrical helm of the King appears surmounted by a kind of cap or fan charged with a lion pa.s.sant, the whole being arched over by a radiated ornament somewhat resembling a displayed fan, as in No. 375. Similar Crests, somewhat modified in their details, are represented in other seals of the same era, and with them the flowing Contoise or Scarf is sometimes a.s.sociated, as in No. 376, from the seal of Baron HENRY DE PERCI, A.D.
1300. Similar ornaments were also placed by the knights of those ages upon the heads of their chargers. The seal of HENRY DE LACI, Earl of LINCOLN, A.D. 1272, shows the Fan-Crest both upon the helm of the Earl, No. 377, and the head of his war-horse. Another equally characteristic example is the Seal of ALEXANDER DE BALLIOL, No. 378, appended to the ”General Release” given by JOHN BALLIOL to EDWARD I., 2nd January, 1292: it will be observed that this knight displays the arms of his house, No.
134, upon his s.h.i.+eld, and also, in addition to the Fan-Crest, upon the barding of his charger. Again I am indebted to the kindness and liberality of Mr. Laing for the use of his admirable woodcut of this fine and interesting seal.
[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 379.--Helm of Thomas, second Earl of Lancaster.]
The flowing Contoise continued to be attached to helms till about the middle of the fourteenth century; unless, indeed, some veritable ”lady's favour” were worn in its stead by knights favoured as was Sir LAUNCELOT, who, on a memorable day,--
”Wore, against his wont, upon his helm A sleeve of scarlet, broidered with great pearls, Some gentle maiden's gift.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 380.--Helm and Crest of Sir Geoffrey Luterell: A.D. 1345.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 381.--Seal of Sir Robert de Marny, A.D. 1366.]
The seal of THOMAS, second Earl of LANCASTER, about A.D. 1320, gives an excellent example both of such figures as were beginning at that early time to supersede the Fan-Crests, and also of the Contoise; No. 379.
About this same period the fas.h.i.+on was introduced of fixing two tall spikes, one on each side of the Crest, upon the helm, probably intended in the first instance to display the contoise. These singular spikes may have been derived by the English Heralds from their brethren of Germany, who delighted, as they still delight, in placing upon helms as Crests, or as the accessories of Crests, small banners displayed from staves set erect and surmounted by spear-heads. In German Heraldry also Crests are very frequently placed between tall upright horns or trumpets: and, sometimes, upon a German helm the Crest stands between horns shaped like two elephant's trunks (for which they have often been mistaken by English Heralds), placed in the same erect position, and, like the trumpets, so adjusted as to have the general aspect of the curved outline of a cla.s.sic lyre. The helm of Sir GEOFFREY LUTERELL, A.D. 1345, No. 380, drawn from a celebrated illumination, between the tall spikes has a late example of the Fan-Crest; and it exemplifies the practice sometimes adopted of charging armorial insignia upon Crests of this fan form. The Arms of Luterell--_Or, a bend and six martlets sa._--were borne by Sir GEOFFREY thus differenced (E. 2)--_Az., a bend and six martlets arg._ A pair of lofty upright wings were held in much esteem in the Heraldry of both England and Scotland, to form the accessories of Crests. The Seal of Sir ROBERT DE MARNY, A.D. 1366, No. 381, shows his armorial s.h.i.+eld--_Gu., a lion rampant arg._, suspended from a tree, between two crested helms, the crest in both cases being a _winged chapeau_, having the wings very tall and very slender.
From the earliest times, Crests have occasionally been identical with the princ.i.p.al charge in the s.h.i.+eld of Arms, or they have repeated the princ.i.p.al charge with some slight modification of att.i.tude or accessory: but, more generally, Crests have been altogether distinct. The Dragon and the Wyvern, the latter well exemplified in No. 315, are amongst the earliest figures that were borne as Crests in England. Other early Figure-Crests are the Lion, crowned and a.s.sumed for the first time by an English Sovereign by EDWARD III.; and the Eagle, borne by the same Prince. Various devices and figures are found gradually to have been added to these earliest Crests. The graceful and peculiarly appropriate _Panache_ soon joined them, with the heads of various animals and other creatures: and, as the fourteenth century advances, the _Crest-Coronet_, No. 232, the _Crest-Wreath_, No. 233, and the _Chapeau_, No. 224, a.s.sume their places in connection with Crests; and the _Mantling_ falls in rich folds from them, covering the back of the Helm. In the succeeding century, with Helms less dignified in form, but more elaborately enriched, and with strangely fantastic Mantlings, Crests become considerably larger in their proportions; and they often are extravagant in their character, devices constantly being a.s.sumed and borne as Crests, which are no less inconsistent with true heraldic feeling, than with the peculiar conditions and the proper qualities of true heraldic Crests. The Crest of the Duke of HAMILTON, No. 301, is far from being one of the most inconsistent devices that were intended to be worn upon helms. And, as it is scarcely necessary for me to add, every really consistent Crest should be such a figure or device as might be actually worn upon his helm, by a mediaeval knight, with dignity and with a happy effect.
[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 382.--Seal of William de Wyndesor.]
Early examples of Panache-Crests exist in considerable numbers, and they show much variety of treatment. No. 285, already given at page 142, shows a Panache of several heights of feathers, the general outline having an oval contour. In No. 283, from the Seal of EDWARD DE COURTENAY, Earl of DEVON, A.D. 1372, there are three heights of feathers, and the outline has a square form. Again, the Seal of WILLIAM LE LATIMER, A.D. 1415, gives the peculiar Panache, with the no less peculiar variety of mantling, shown in No. 284. A Panache of ample proportions, and of exceedingly graceful form, is represented in the Seal of WILLIAM DE WYNDESOR, A.D. 1381. The comparatively small size of the armorial s.h.i.+eld, as it generally appears when introduced into the composition of Seals in the fourteenth century, is shown in a striking manner in this same example, No. 382, which in the woodcut is slightly enlarged, in order to show the device more clearly: the arms are--_Gu., a saltire or_. Other fine examples of Panache-Crests may be seen in the effigies of Sir RICHARD DE PEMBRIDGE, K.G., A.D. 1375, in Hereford Cathedral; of Sir ROBERT DE MARMION, A.D. 1400, at Tanfield, Yorks.h.i.+re; and of Sir THOMAS ARDERNE, about the same date, at Elford, in Staffords.h.i.+re. The very fine effigy of Sir EDWARD DE THORPE, A.D. 1418, at Ashwelthorpe, in Norfolk, has a helm of rare beauty of form, with a rich mantling, and a most graceful Panache of peac.o.c.k's feathers; and peac.o.c.k's feathers also form the Panache of Lord FERRERS of CHARTLEY, in his Bra.s.s, A.D. 1425, at Merevale, in Warwicks.h.i.+re. And, once more, upon the Seal of THOMAS DE HATFIELD, Bishop of Durham, A.D. 1345, the Panache rises from the episcopal mitre, after the same manner as it does in No.
383 from a Coronet.
[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 383.--Crest of Sir Richard Grey, K.G., A.D. 1420.]
Another episcopal Seal, that of Bishop HENRY LE DESPENCER, No. 351, shows a s.h.i.+eld of small size when compared with the helm and crest, the latter being the favourite device of a gryphon's head between two tall upright wings. The Seals of the FITZALANS, Earls of Arundel, and the Seal of JOHN TIPTOFT, Earl of Worcester, may be specified as displaying fine examples of the same Crest. With them may be grouped the Crest of Sir RICHARD GREY, K.G., Lord Grey of Codnor, A.D. 1420--_A peac.o.c.k's head and neck, between two wings erect, the feathers az., and their pens_ (quills) _arg._, No. 383, from the Garter-plate at Windsor. This Crest rises from such a Crest-Coronet as was borne on their helms by n.o.blemen in the time of HENRY V.