Part 27 (1/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 404.--Elephant and castle.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 405.--Hare salient.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 406.--Coney.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 407.--Squirrel.]

Elephants' tusks have also been introduced into grants, as in the arms of Liebreich (borne in pretence by c.o.c.k) and Randles [”Or, a chevron wavy azure between three pairs of elephants' tusks in saltire proper”].

_The Hare_ (Fig. 405) is but rarely met with in British armory. It appears in the arms of Cleland, and also in the crest of Shakerley, Bart. [”A hare proper resting her forefeet on a grab or”]. A very curious coat [”Argent, three hares playing bagpipes gules”] belongs to an ancient Derbys.h.i.+re family FitzErcald, now represented (through the Sacheverell family) by c.o.ke of Trussley, who quarter the FitzErcald s.h.i.+eld.

_The Rabbit_ (Fig. 406), or, as it is more frequently termed heraldically, the Coney, appears more frequently in heraldry than the hare, being the canting charge on the arms of Coningsby, Cunliffe [”Sable, three conies courant argent”], and figuring also as the supporters of Montgomery Cunningham [”Two conies proper”].

_The Squirrel_ (Fig. 407) occurs in many English coats of arms. It is always sejant, and very frequently cracking a nut. {215}

_The Ape_ is not often met with, except in the cases of the different families of the great Fitz Gerald clan. It is usually the crest, though the Duke of Leinster also has apes as supporters. One family of Fitzgerald, however, bear it as a charge upon the s.h.i.+eld [”Gules, a saltire invected per pale argent and or, between four monkeys statant of the second, environed with a plain collar and chained of the second. Mantling gules and argent. Crest: on a wreath of the colours, a monkey as in the arms, charged on the body with two roses, and resting the dexter fore-leg on a saltire gules. Motto: 'Crom-a-boo'”], and the family of Yorke bear an ape's head for a crest.

The ape is usually met with ”collared and chained” (Fig. 408), though, unlike any other animal, the collar of an ape environs its loins and not its neck. A winged ape is included in Elvin's ”Dictionary of Heraldry” as a heraldic animal, but I am not aware to whom it is a.s.signed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 408.--Ape collared and chained.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 409.--Brock.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 410.--Otter.]

_The Brock_ or _Badger_ (Fig. 409) figures in some number of English arms.

It is most frequently met with as the crest of Brooke, but will be also found in the arms or crests of Brocklebank and Motion.

_The Otter_ (Fig. 410) is not often met with except in Scottish coats, but an English example is that of Sir George Newnes, and a demi-otter issuant from a fess wavy will be found quartered by Seton of Mounie.

An otter's head, sometimes called a seal's head, for it is impossible to distinguish the heraldic representations of the one or the other, appears in many coats of arms of different families of the name of Balfour, and two otters are the supporters belonging to the head of the Scottish house of Balfour.

_The Ermine_, _the Stoat_, and _the Weasel_, &c., are not very often met with, but the ermine appears as the crest of Crawford and the marten as the crest of a family of that name. {216}

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 411.--Urcheon.]

_The Hedgehog_, or, as it is usually heraldically termed, the _Urcheon_ (Fig. 411), occurs in some number of coats. For example, in the arms of Maxwell [”Argent, an eagle with two heads displayed sable, beaked and membered gules, on the breast an escutcheon of the first, charged with a saltire of the second, surcharged in the centre with a hurcheon (hedgehog) or, all within a bordure gules”], Harris, and as the crest of Money-Kyrle.

_The Beaver_ has been introduced into many coats of late years for those connected in any way with Canada. It figures in the arms of Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal, and in the arms of Christopher.

The beaver is one of the supporters of the city of Oxford, and is the sole charge in the arms of the town of Biberach (Fig. 412). Originally the arms were: ”Argent, a beaver azure, crowned and armed gules,” but the arms authorised by the Emperor Frederick IV., 18th July 1848, were: ”Azure, a beaver or.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 412.--Arms of the town of Biberach. (From Ulrich Reichenthal's _Concilium von Constanz_, Augsburg, 1483.)]

It is quite impossible, or at any rate very unnecessary, to turn a work on armory into an Ill.u.s.trated Guide to Natural History, which would be the result if under the description of heraldic charges the attempt were made to deal with all the various animals which have by now been brought to the armorial fold, owing to the inclusion of each for special and sufficient reasons in one or two isolated grants.

Far be it from me, however, to make any remark which should seem to indicate the raising of any objection to such use. In my opinion it is highly admirable, providing there is some definite reason in each case for the introduction of these strange animals other than mere caprice. They add to the interest of heraldry, and they give to modern arms and armory a definite status and meaning, which is a relief from the endless monotony of meaningless lions, bends, chevrons, mullets, and martlets.

But at the same time the isolated use in a modern grant of such an animal as the kangaroo does not make it one of the peculiarly heraldic menagerie, and consequently such instances must be dismissed herein with brief mention, particularly as many of these creatures heraldically exist only as supporters, in which chapter some are more fully {217} discussed. Save as a supporter, the only instances I know of the _Kangaroo_ are in the coat of Moore and in the arms of Arthur, Bart.

_The Zebra_ will be found as the crest of Kemsley.