Part 37 (1/2)
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 499.--Castle.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 500.--Tower.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 501.--Tower triple-towered.]
An instance of a _Fortification_ as a charge occurs in the s.h.i.+eld of Sconce: ”Azure, a fortification (sconce) argent, masoned sable, in the dexter chief point a mullet of six points of the second.”
_Gabions_ were hampers filled with earth, and were used in the construction of fortifications and earthworks. They are of occasional occurrence in English armory at any rate, and may be seen in the s.h.i.+elds of Christie and of Goodfellow.
The arms of Banks supply an instance of _Arches_. Mention may here perhaps be made of William Arches, who bore at the siege of Rouen: ”Gules, three double arches argent.” The family of Lethbridge bear a bridge, and this charge figures in a number of other coats.
_An Abbey_ occurs in the arms of Maitland of Dundrennan [”Argent, the ruins of an old abbey on a piece of ground all proper”], and a monastery in that of McLarty [”Azure, the front of an ancient monastery argent”]. A somewhat isolated instance of a _Temple_ occurs in the s.h.i.+eld of Templer.
A curious canting grant of arms may be seen in that to the town of Eccles, in which the charge is an _Ecclesiastical Building_, and similar {283} though somewhat unusual charges figure also in the quartering for Chappel [”Per chevron or and azure, in chief a mullet of six points between two crosses patee of the last, and in base the front elevation of a chapel argent”], borne by Brown-Westhead.
_Arrows_ are very frequently found, and the arms of Hales supply one of the many examples of this charge, while a bow--without the arrows--may be instanced in the s.h.i.+eld of Bowes: ”Ermine, three bows bent and stringed palewise in fess proper.”
_Arrow-Heads_ and _Pheons_ are of common usage, and occur in the arms of Foster and many other families. Pheons, it may be noticed in pa.s.sing, are arrow-heads with an inner engrailed edge (Fig. 502), while when depicted without this peculiarity they are termed ”broad arrows” (Fig. 503). This is not a distinction very stringently adhered to.
Charges a.s.sociated with warfare and military defences are frequently to be found both in English and foreign heraldry.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 502.--Pheon.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 503.--Broad arrow.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 504.--Battle-axe.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 505.--Caltrap.]
_Battle-Axes_ (Fig. 504), for example, may be seen in the s.h.i.+eld of Firth and in that of Renty in Artois, which has: ”Argent, three doloires, or broad-axes, gules, those in chief addorsed.” In blazoning a battle-axe care should be taken to specify the fact if the head is of a different colour, as is frequently the case.
The somewhat infrequent device of a _Battering-Ram_ is seen in the arms of Bertie, who bore: ”Argent, three battering-rams fesswise in pale proper, armed and garnished azure.”
An instrument of military defence consisting of an iron frame of four points, and called a _Caltrap_ (Fig. 505) or _Galtrap_ (and sometimes a Cheval trap, from its use of impeding the approach of cavalry), is found in the arms of Trappe [”Argent, three caltraps sable”], Gilstrap and other families; while French armory supplies us with another example in {284} the case of the family of Guetteville de Guenonville, who bore for arms: ”D'argent, semee de chausse-trapes de sable.” Caltraps are also strewn upon the compartment upon which the supporters to the arms of the Earl of Perth are placed.
As the well-known badge of the Royal House of Tudor, the _Portcullis_ (Fig.
506) is familiar to any one conversant with Henry VII.'s Chapel at Westminster Abbey, but it also appears as a charge in the arms of the family of Wingate [”Gules, a portcullis and a chief embattled or”], where it forms an obvious pun on the earliest form of the name, viz. Windygate, whilst it figures also as the crest of the Dukes of Beaufort [”A portcullis or, nailed azure, chained of the first”]. The disposition of the chains is a matter always left to the discretion of the artist.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 506.--Portcullis.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 507.--Beacon.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 508.--Grenade.]
Examples of _Beacons_ (Fig. 507) are furnished by the achievements of the family of Compton and of the town of Wolverhampton. A _fire chest_ occurs in the arms of Critchett (_vide_ p. 261).
_Chains_ are singularly scarce in armory, and indeed nearly wholly absent as _charges_, usually occurring where they do as part of the crest. The English s.h.i.+eld of Anderton, it is true, bears: ”Sable, three chains argent;” while another one (Duppa de Uphaugh) has: ”Quarterly, 1 and 4, a lion's paw couped in fess between two chains or, a chief nebuly of the last, thereon two roses of the first, barbed and seeded proper (for Duppa); 2 and 3, party fess azure and sable, a trident fesswise or, between three turbots argent (for Turb.u.t.t).” In Continental heraldry, however, chains are more frequently met with. Princ.i.p.al amongst these cases maybe cited the arms of Navarre (”Gules, a cross saltire and double orle of chains, linked together or”), while many other instances are found in the armories of Southern France and of Spain.
_Bombs_ or _Grenades_ (Fig. 508), for Heraldry does not distinguish, figure in the s.h.i.+elds of Vava.s.seur, Jervoise, Boycott, and many other families.
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