Part 2 (2/2)

[26] Sir George Mackenzie says: ”The King of Scotland being equal in dignity with the Kings of England, France, and Spain, attained to that dignity before any of these.” He therefore claims precedence for Scotland over all these kingdoms. _Treatise on Precedency_, p. 4.

[27] _Scottish Heraldry_, p. 446.

I do not know where Mr. Seton got that version, inconsistent as it is alike with patriotism and with historical accuracy. It is certainly not the correct one. The true version, familiar to every boy in Scotland, is more impartial, and it has more fun in it. It runs thus:--

”The Lion and the Unicorn, Fighting for the Crown: Up came a little dog And knocked them both down.”

--the ”little dog” being the small lion which stands defiantly on the crown, and const.i.tutes the royal crest at the top of the achievement.

The supporters of the Scottish arms were two unicorns. In England, previous to the accession of the Stuarts, the supporters of the royal arms were changed at the caprice of the sovereign, and almost every king or queen adopted new ones. From these, and from the royal badges, came many of the curious names which may be found in old lists of s.h.i.+ps. Such as the ”Antelope,” which refers to one of the supporters of Henry VI.; the ”Bull” of Edward IV.; the ”Dragon” of Henry VIII. and of Elizabeth.

So also the badges: the ”Sun,” ”Rose in the Sun,” and ”Falcon in the Fetterlock,” were all worn by Edward IV. The ”Double Rose” speaks for itself, and the ”Hawthorn” belonged to Henry VIII.[28] The supporters a.s.sumed by King James, and continued to all his successors, were a lion on the dexter side, and on the sinister one of the Scottish unicorns--the latter displacing the red dragon of the Tudor family.

[28] _Heraldry of the Sea_, by J. K. Laughton, M.A.R.N., 1879.

In s.h.i.+ps the Royal Standard is never hoisted now except when her Majesty is on board, or a member of the royal family other than the Prince of Wales. When the latter is on board his own standard is hoisted. It is the same as that of the Queen, except that it bears a label argent of three points, with the arms of Saxony on an escutcheon of pretence. The standard of the Duke of Edinburgh is the same as that of the Prince of Wales, except that the points of the label are charged, the first and third with a blue anchor, and the second with the St. George's cross.

Wherever the sovereign is residing the Royal Standard is hoisted; and on royal anniversaries and state occasions it is hoisted at certain fortresses or stations--home and foreign--specified in the Queen's Regulations.

STANDARDS BORNE BY n.o.bLES.

Standards borne by subjects were, in early times, according to the Tudor MS. to be ”slitt at the end,” but they appear to have been also borne square. This is the form in an old standard of Richard, Earl of Warwick--circa 1437--bearing his badge of the bear and ragged staff (Fig. 20). Shakespeare[29] alludes to this device when he puts into the mouth of Warwick the words--

”Now by my father's badge, old Neville's crest, The rampant bear chained to the ragged staff.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 20.--Standard of the Earl of Warwick, A.D. 1437.]

But Shakespeare was out in his heraldry here, first in confounding the badge with a crest, and secondly in calling it Neville's, for the bear and the ragged staff had been the badge not of the Nevilles but of the Beauchamps, who preceded Warwick in the earldom.[30] This old Earl of Warwick had a similar device on the flag which he flew in his s.h.i.+p. It was a long flag, having the cross of St. George on the upper part--then the bear and ragged staff, and the remainder covered with ragged staffs.

It is interesting to note that the account for this and other flags made for the earl in 1437, is preserved. The one just referred to is described as ”a great Stremour for the s.h.i.+p of xi yerdis length and viij yerdis in brede,” and the price for making it was ”j^{li} vi^s viii^d.”[31]

[29] _King Henry VI._ part ii. act v. sc. 1.

[30] Seton's _Scottish Heraldry_, p. 252.

[31] _Antiquities of Warwicks.h.i.+re._

In the Advocates' Library there is preserved an interesting flag, which is said to have been the standard borne by the Earl Marshall at the battle of Flodden (Fig. 21). It is thus described in the paper which accompanies it: ”The standard of the Earl Marshall of Scotland, carried at the battle of Flodden, 1513, by _black_ John Skirving of Plewland Hill, his standard-bearer. Skirving was taken prisoner, having previously, however, concealed the banner about his person. The relic was handed down in the Skirving family, and presented to the Faculty of Advocates by William Skirving of Edinburgh, in the beginning of the present century. The arms and motto are those of the Keith family.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 21.--Flag of the Earl Marshall.]

The flag may have been borne by the earl at Flodden, but the devices on it are certainly not his _arms_. The arms of the Earl Marshall were, argent, on a chief gules three pallets or; or, as it is otherwise given by Nisbet, palle of six, or and gules. The _crest_ of the earl, however, was a hart's head, and he had for supporters two harts. His motto also was that which appears on the banner, ”Veritas vincit.” That the full arms should not appear on the standard I can understand, for it was not common to place them there, and in England the Tudor MS. prescribes that, besides the cross of St. George, standards and guidons are to have on them not the arms, but only the bearers ”_beast_ or crest, with his devyce and word.” It is possible, therefore, that the earl may have placed on his flag his well-known crest with the heads of the two harts forming his supporters, though such an arrangement would be unusual.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 22.--Standard of Earl Douglas, A.D. 1388.]

The relic of a still older fight than that of Flodden is still preserved in Scotland in the standard borne by Earl Douglas at Otterburn--one of the most chivalrous battles, according to Froissart, that was ever fought. The story, as told in all the histories,[32] is that shortly before the battle, in a skirmish before Newcastle, Douglas, in a personal encounter with Percy, won the pennon of the English leader, and boasted that he would carry it to Scotland and plant it on his castle of Dalkeith; and till lately this standard was supposed to be the flag so captured. But recent investigation has shown that the flag--which, by the way, is not a pennon but a standard thirteen feet long--is that of Douglas himself, which of course his son would be careful to preserve and bring back. The flag is now much faded, and the second word of the motto was, when I saw it lately, not legible, but the motto is undoubtedly that of Earl Douglas, ”Jamais arriere” (Fig. 22). The devices are not the arms as borne by his descendants the Dukes of Douglas;--indeed they are not arranged as a coat of arms at all. But the lion rampant for Galloway, the saltire for the lords.h.i.+p of Annandale, and the heart and the star, are all Douglas bearings. Curiously enough, there are two hearts, while the later earls bore only one, and there is only one star, while on their s.h.i.+elds they carried three. The real trophies, the capture of which, in all probability, precipitated the battle, are to be found in two other relics which are preserved along with the flag. They consist of two lady's gauntlets, fringed with filigree work in silver, on each of which is embroidered the white lion of the Percys. The gloves are of different sizes, and were perhaps love pledges, carried by Percy suspended from his spear or helmet, as was the fas.h.i.+on of the time; and the loss of such tokens was quite as likely as the loss of a personal flag, to cause the Northumbrian knight to pursue Douglas and force him to battle.[33] These relics are in the possession of the family of Douglas of Cavers in Roxburghs.h.i.+re, descended from the earl who was slain at Otterburn.

[32] Tytler's _History of Scotland_, ii. 365, &c.

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