Part 39 (1/2)

_Mirrors_ occur almost exclusively in crests and in connection with mermaids, who, as a general rule, are represented as holding one in the dexter hand with a comb in the sinister. Very occasionally, however, mirrors appear as charges, an example being that of the Counts Spiegel zum Desenberg, who bore: ”Gules, three round mirrors argent in square frames or.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 539.--Maunch.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 540.--Gauntlet.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 541.--Morion.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 542.--Mill-rind.]

Symbols connected with the Sacred Pa.s.sion--other than the cross itself--are not of very general use in armory, though there are instances of the _Pa.s.sion-Nails_ being used, as, for example, in the s.h.i.+eld of Procter viz.: ”Or, three pa.s.sion-nails sable.”

_Pelts, or Hides_, occur in the s.h.i.+eld of Pilter, and the Fleece has been mentioned under the division of Rams and Sheep.

_Plummets_ (or _Sinkers_ used by masons) form the charges in the arms of Jennings.

An instance of a _Pyramid_ is met with in the crest of Malcolm, Bart., and an _Obelisk_ in that of the town of Todmorden. {294}

The s.h.i.+eld of Crookes affords an example of two devices of very rare occurrence, viz. a _Prism_ and a _Radiometer_.

Water, lakes, s.h.i.+ps, &c., are constantly met with in armory, but a few instances must suffice. The various methods of heraldically depicting water have been already referred to (pages 88 and 151).

_Three Wells_ figure in the arms of Hodsoll, and a masoned well in that of Camberwell. The s.h.i.+elds of Stourton and Mansergh supply instances of heraldic _Fountains_, whilst the arms of Brunner and of Franco contain Fountains of the ordinary kind. A _Tarn_, or _Loch_, occurs in the s.h.i.+eld of the family of Tarn, while Lord Loch bears: ”Or, a saltire engrailed sable, between in fess two swans in water proper, all within a bordure vert.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 543.--Lymphad, sail furled.]

The use of _s.h.i.+ps_ may be instanced by the arms of many families, while a _Galley_ or _Lymphad_ (Fig. 543) occurs in the arms of Campbell, Macdonald, Galbraith, Macfie, and numerous other families, and also in the arms of the town of Oban. Another instance of a coat of arms in which a galley appears will be found in the arms recently granted to the burgh of Alloa, while the towns of Wandsworth and Lerwick each afford instances of a _Dragon s.h.i.+p_.

The _Prow of a Galley_ appears in the arms of Pitcher.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 544.--Rainbow.]

A modern form of s.h.i.+p in the shape of a _Yacht_ may be seen in the arms of Ryde; while two Scottish families afford instances of the use of the _Ark_.

”Argent, an ark on the waters proper, surmounted of a dove azure, bearing in her beak an olive-branch vert,” are the arms borne by Gellie of Blackford; and ”Argent, an ark in the sea proper, in chief a dove azure, in her beak a branch of olive of the second, within a bordure of the third”

are quoted as the arms of Primrose Gailliez of Chorleywood. Lastly, we may note the appropriate use of a _Steamer_ in the arms of Barrow-in-Furness.

The curious figure of the lion dimidiated with the hulk of a s.h.i.+p which is met with in the arms of several of the towns of the Cinque Ports has been referred to on page 182.

_Clouds_ form part of the arms of Leeson, which are: ”Gules, a chief nebuly argent, the rays of the sun issuing therefrom or.”

The _Rainbow_ (Fig. 544), though not in itself a distinctly modern charge, for it occurs in the crest of Hope, has been of late very frequently granted as part of a crest. Instances occur in the crest of {295} the family of Pontifex, and again in that of Thurston, and of Wigan. Its use as a part of a crest is to be deprecated, but in these days of complicated armory it might very advantageously be introduced as a charge upon a s.h.i.+eld.

An unusual device, the _Thunderbolt_, is the crest of Carnegy. The arms of the German family of Donnersperg very appropriately are: ”Sable, three thunderbolts or issuing from a chief nebuly argent, in base a mount of three coupeaux of the second.” The arms of the town of Blackpool furnish an instance of a thunderbolt in dangerous conjunction with windmill sails.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 545.--Estoile.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 546.--Mullet (Scottish star).]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 547.--Mullet pierced (Scottish spur-revel).]

_Stars_, a very common charge, may be instanced as borne under that name by the Scottish s.h.i.+eld of Alston. There has, owing to their similarity, been much confusion between _stars_, _estoiles_, _and mullets_. The difficulty is increased by the fact that no very definite lines have ever been followed officially. In England stars under that name are practically unknown. When the rays are wavy the charge is termed an estoile, but when they are straight the term mullet is used. That being so, these rules follow: that the estoile is never pierced (and from the accepted method of depicting the estoile this would hardly seem very feasible), and that unless the number of points is specified there will be six (see Fig. 545).

Other numbers are quite permissible, but the number of points (more usually in an estoile termed ”rays”) must be stated. The arm of Hobart, for example, are: ”Sable, an estoile of eight rays or, between two flaunches ermine.” An estoile of sixteen rays is used by the town of Ilchester, but the arms are not of any authority. Everything with straight points being in England a mullet, it naturally follows that the English practice permits a mullet to be plain (Fig. 546) or pierced (Fig. 547). Mullets are occasionally met with pierced of a colour other than the field they are charged upon. According to the English practice, therefore, the mullet is not represented as pierced unless it is expressly stated to be so. The mullet both in England and {296} Scotland is of five points unless a greater number are specified. But mullets pierced and unpierced of six (Fig. 548) or eight points (Fig. 549) are frequent enough in English armory.