Part 32 (1/2)

How the ”three Leopards courant” of the shrewd chronicler of Carlaverock are identical with the ”three Lions pa.s.sant guardant” of the Royal s.h.i.+eld 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 s.h.i.+eld 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 s.h.i.+eld 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 s.h.i.+eld 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 s.h.i.+eld of Arms, No. 23, was a.s.signed to the Anglo-Saxon Kings: another s.h.i.+eld, No. 2, was a.s.signed to EDWARD THE CONFESSOR: and a third s.h.i.+eld, 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 s.h.i.+eld, as at Westminster Hall; and sometimes he impaled the Confessor's Arms with his own quartered s.h.i.+eld, 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 s.h.i.+eld 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 s.h.i.+eld, 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 s.h.i.+eld of William III. and Mary.]

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

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 426.--Diagram of s.h.i.+eld of William III. alone.]

WILLIAM III., as an elected Sovereign, charged his paternal s.h.i.+eld of Na.s.sAU, No. 424--_Az., billettee, a lion rampt. or_,--in pretence upon the Royal s.h.i.+eld: also, during the life of his Consort, till Dec. 28, 1694, he bore the _Stuart_ s.h.i.+eld with _Na.s.sau_ in pretence on the dexter half of his s.h.i.+eld, and thus impaled in the sinister half of his s.h.i.+eld the same Stuart arms, as in the Diagram, No. 425, to denote their joint Sovereignty: the s.h.i.+eld 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 s.h.i.+eld alone, as in the Diagram, No. 426: the s.h.i.+eld 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 s.h.i.+eld of Queen Anne.]

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

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

The Arms of HANOVER, on the accession of GEORGE I., August 1, 1714, were added to the s.h.i.+eld of the United Kingdom. This was accomplished by removing the charges (_England and Scotland impaled_) from the fourth quarter of the s.h.i.+eld, No. 427, and charging that quarter with the arms of _Hanover_ as they appear on the s.h.i.+eld, 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 s.h.i.+eld bearing,--1 and 2, _England_ impaling _Scotland_; 3, _France Modern_; 4, _Ireland_; 5, _Hanover_ (as in No. 428, without the Crown).