A Complete Guide to Heraldry Part 69

_Lyon King of Arms_ has: (1) His official coat of arms (argent, a lion sejant, erect and affronte gules, holding in his dexter paw a thistle {587} slipped vert, and in the sinister a s.h.i.+eld of the second, on a chief azure a St. Andrew's cross--_i.e._ a saltire--of the field); (2) his crown; (3) two batons, representing that of his office in saltire behind his s.h.i.+eld, these being azure seme of thistles and fleurs-de-lis or, tipped at either end with gold; (4) his Collar of SS; (5) his triple chain of gold, from which depends his badge as Lyon King of Arms.

_Ulster King of Arms_ has: (1) His official coat of arms (or, a cross gules, on a chief of the last a lion of England between a harp and a portcullis, all of the first); (2) his crown; (3) his Collar of SS; (4) his two staves in saltire behind the s.h.i.+eld; (5) his chain and badge as Ulster King of Arms; (6) his badge as Registrar of the Order of St. Patrick.

_Clarenceux King of Arms_ has: (1) His official coat of arms (argent, a cross gules, on a chief of the second a lion pa.s.sant guardant or, crowned of the last); (2) his crown; (3) his Collar of SS.

_Norroy King of Arms_ has: (1) His official coat of arms (argent, a cross gules, on a chief of the second a lion of England pa.s.sant guardant or, crowned with an open crown, between a fleur-de-lis on the dexter and a key on the sinister of the last); (2) his crown; (3) his Collar of SS.

_Bath King of Arms_ has: (1) His crown; his Collar of SS.

I am not aware that any official arms have been a.s.signed to Bath up to the present time; but if none exist, there would not be the slightest difficulty in obtaining these.

_An English Herald_ encircles his s.h.i.+eld with his Collar of SS.

_A Scottish Herald_ is ent.i.tled to do the same, and has also his badge, which he places below the escutcheon pendent from a ribbon of blue and white.

An _Irish Herald_ has his Collar of SS, and his badge suspended from a sky-blue ribbon. An _Irish Pursuivant_ has a similar badge.

_The Regius Professors (or "Readers") in the University of Cambridge_, for "Phisicke," "Lawe," "Devinity," "Hebrew," and "Greke," have official arms as follows (see grant by Robert Cooke, Clarenceux, 1590, _Genealogical Magazine_, vol. ii. p. 125):--

_Of Phisicke_: Azure, a fesse ermines (? ermine) between three lozenges or, on a chief gules a lion pa.s.sant guardant of the third, charged on the side with the letter M sable. Crest: on a wreath or and azure, a quinquangle silver, called "simbolum sanitatis." Mantling gules and argent.

_Of Lawe_: Purpure, a cross moline or, on a chief gules, a lion pa.s.sant guardant of the second, charged on the side with the letter L sable. Crest: on a wreath "purple and gold," a bee volant or. Mantling gules and argent.

_Of Devinity_: Gules, on a cross ermine, between four doves argent, {588} a book of the first, the leaves or, charged in the midst with the Greek letter [theta] (Theta) sable. Crest: on a wreath "silver and gules," a dove volant argent, with an olive-branch vert in his beak. Mantling gules, double argent.

_Of Hebrew_: Argent, the Hebrew letter [Hebrew: T] (Tawe) sable, on a chief gules, a lion pa.s.sant guardant or, charged on the side with the letter H sable. Crest: on a wreath "silver and sables," a turtle-dove azure.

Mantling gules, double argent.

_Of Greke_: Per chevron argent and sable, in chief the two Greek letters [Alpha] (Alpha) and [Omega] (Omega) of the second, and in base a "cicado"

or gra.s.shopper of the first, on a chief gules, a lion pa.s.sant guardant or, charged on the side with the letter G sable. Crest: on a wreath "silver and sables," an owl argent, legs, beak, and ears or. Mantling gules and argent.

The following insignia of office I quote subject to the reservation that I am doubtful how far they enjoy official sanction:--

_The Lord Chancellor of England_: Two maces in saltire (or one in pale) behind the s.h.i.+eld and the purse containing the Great Seal below it.

_The Lord Great Chamberlain of England_: Two golden keys in saltire; and

_The Lord Chamberlain of the Household_: A golden key in pale behind the s.h.i.+eld.

At Exeter the Dean, Precentor, Chancellor, and Treasurer have used official arms impaled with their own insignia. These were:--

_The Dean_: Azure, a stag's head caboshed and between the horns a cross patee fitchee argent.

_The Precentor_: Argent, on a saltire azure a fleur-de-lis or.

_The Chancellor_: Gules, a saltire argent between four crosslets or.

_The Treasurer_: Gules, a saltire between four leopards' heads or.

The Dean of the Chapel Royal, Savoy, may perhaps employ the complicated coat of the chapel to impale his personal arms, placing the escutcheon on the breast of an eagle sable, crowned or.

Many English Deaneries claim to possess arms which presumably the occupant may use to impale his own coat with, after the example of the Dean of Exeter. Such are London, Winchester, Lincoln, Salisbury, Lichfield, Durham, which all difference the arms of the see with a letter D of gold or sable.

St. David's reverses the tinctures of the arms of the see.

Norwich and Carlisle carry: Argent, a cross sable.

Canterbury: Azure, on a cross argent the monogram

sable.

York differences the arms of the see by changing the crown into a mitre, and adding three plates in flanks and base. {589}

CHAPTER x.x.xVII

AUGMENTATIONS OF HONOUR

Of all heraldic distinctions the possession of an augmentation of honour is the one most prized. The Sovereign is of course the fountain of honour, and though ordinary grants of arms are made by Letters Patent under the hands and seals of the Kings of Arms, by virtue of the powers expressly and specifically conferred upon them in the Letters Patent respectively appointing them to their offices, a grant of arms is theoretically a grant from the Crown. The privilege of the possession of arms in the ordinary event is left in the discretion of the Earl Marshal, whose warrant is a condition precedent to the issue of a Grant. Providing a person is palpably living in that style and condition of life in which the use of arms is usual, subject always to the Earl Marshal's pleasure and discretion, a Grant of Arms can ordinarily be obtained upon payment of the usual fees.

The social status of present-day grantees of arms is considerably in advance of the status of grantees in the Tudor period. An augmentation of arms, however, is on a totally and entirely different footing. It is an especial mark of favour from the Sovereign, and the effective grant is a Royal Warrant under the hand and Privy Seal of the Sovereign. The warrant recites and requires that the augmentation granted shall be exemplified and recorded in the College of Arms. Augmentations have been less frequently conferred in recent years than was formerly the case. Technically speaking, a gift of arms by the Sovereign direct where none previously existed is not an augmentation, though one is naturally inclined to include such grants in the category. Such an example is met with in the s.h.i.+eld granted to Colonel Carlos by King Charles to commemorate their mutual adventures in the oak tree ("Or, issuing from a mount in base vert, an oak tree proper, over all on a fess gules, three Imperial crowns also proper") (Plate II.).

There are many gorgeous legends relating to augmentations and arms which are said to have been granted by William the Conqueror as rewards after the Battle of Hastings. Personally I do not believe in a single one. There was a certain augmentation borne by the Dodge family, which, if it be correct, dates from the thirty-fourth year of Edward I., but whether this be authentic it is impossible to say. Most {590} people consider the alleged _deed of grant_ a forgery, and if this be so, the arms only exist by right of subsequent record and the question of augmentation rests upon tradition.

The curious charge of the woman's breast distilling drops of milk to typify the nourishment afforded to the king's army is at any rate most interesting (Plate VI.). The earliest undoubted one in this country that I am aware of dates from the reign of Edward III. Sir John de Pelham shared in the glory of the Battle of Poictiers, and in the capture of the French King John. To commemorate this he was granted two round buckles with thongs. The Pelham family arms were "Azure, three pelicans argent," and, as will be seen, these family arms were quartered with the buckles and thongs on a field gules as an augmentation. The quarterly coat forms a part of the arms both of Lord Chichester and of Lord Yarborough at the present day, and "the Pelham buckle" has been the badge of the Pelham family for centuries.

Piers Legh fought with the Black Prince and took the Count de Tanquervil prisoner at the Battle of Crecy, "and did valiantly rere and advance the said princes Banner att the bataile of Cressy to the noe little encouragement of the English army," but it was not until the reign of Queen Elizabeth that the augmentation to commemorate this was granted.

The Battle of Flodden was won by the Earl of Surrey, afterwards the Duke of Norfolk, and amongst the many rewards which the King showered upon his successful Marshal was the augmentation to his arms of "a demi-lion pierced in the mouth with an arrow, depicted on the colours for the arms of the Kingdom of Scotland, which the said James, late King of Scots, bore."

According to the Act of Parliament under which it was granted this augmentation would seem now to belong exclusively to Lord Mowbray and Stourton and Hon. Mary Petre, but it is borne apparently with official sanction, or more likely perhaps by official inadvertence, by the Duke of Norfolk and the rest of the Howard family.

The Battle of Agincourt is referred to by Shakespeare, who puts these words into King Henry's mouth on the eve of that great battle (Act iv. sc. 3):--

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition."

There is actual foundation in fact for these lines. For in a writ couched in very stringent and severe terms issued by the same king in after years decreeing penalties for the improper a.s.sumption and use of false arms, specific exception is made in favour of those "who bore {591} arms with us at the Battle of Agincourt." Evidently this formed a very extensive kind of augmentation.

The reign of Queen Elizabeth furnishes an interesting example of the gift of a complete coat in the case of Sir Francis Drake, who had been using the arms of another family of the same name. The representative of that family complained to the Queen that Sir Francis, whom he styled an upstart, should take such liberties with his arms; whereupon the Queen said she would give Sir Francis arms which should outrival those of his namesake. At least, such is the legend, and though the arms themselves were granted by Clarenceux King of Arms, and I have not yet found any Royal Warrant indicating that the grant was made by specific Royal command, it is possible the story is correct. The arms are: "Sable, a fess wavy between two stars argent. Crest: a s.h.i.+p under reef, drawn round a terrestrial globe with a cable by a hand issuing from clouds all proper" (Plate VI.). The stars upon the s.h.i.+eld are the two pole stars, and the wavy band between them typifies Drake's voyage round the world, as does also the peculiar crest in which the Divine hand is shown guiding his s.h.i.+p around the globe.

At the Battle of Naseby Dr. Edward Lake fought bravely for the King, and in the service of his Majesty received no less than sixteen wounds. At the end of the battle, when his left arm was useless, he put the bridle of his horse between his teeth and still fought on. The quartering of augmentation given to him was: "Gules, a dexter arm embowed in armour holding in the hand a sword erect all proper, thereto affixed a banner argent charged with a cross between sixteen escutcheons of the field, on the cross a lion of England." The sixteen s.h.i.+elds upon the banner typify his sixteen wounds.

After the Commonwealth was established in England, Charles II. made a desperate effort to regain his crown, an effort which culminated in his disastrous defeat at the Battle of Worcester. The King escaped through the gate of the city solely through the heroic efforts of Colonel Newman, and this is kept in remembrance by the inescutcheon of augmentation, viz.: "Gules, a portcullis imperially crowned or." Every one has heard how the King was accompanied in his wanderings by Colonel Carlos, who hid with him in the oak tree at Boscobel. Afterwards the king accompanied Mistress Jane Lane on horseback as her servant to the coast, whence he fled to the Continent. The reward of Colonel Carlos was the gift of the entire coat of arms already referred to. The Lanes, though not until after some years had pa.s.sed and the King had come back to his own again, were granted two remarkable additions to their family arms. First of all "the canton of England" (that is, the arms of England upon a canton) was added {592} to their s.h.i.+eld. They are the _only_ family to whom such an honour has been given, and a most curious result has happened. When the use of armorial bearings was taxed by Act of Parliament the Royal Arms were specially exempted, and on account of this canton the Lane family claimed and obtained exemption from the tax. A few years later a crest was granted to them, namely, a strawberry-roan horse, "couped at the flanks," holding in its feet the Royal crown (Plate II.). It was upon a horse of this colour that the King and Mistress Lane had escaped and thereby saved the crown.

Mr. Francis Wolfe, of Madeley, who also was a party to the escape, received the grant of an inescutcheon gules charged with a lion of England. Another family which bears an augmentation to commemorate King Charles' escape is Whitgreave.

The reign of Queen Anne produced in the Duke of Marlborough one of the finest generals the world has ever seen; and in the Battle of Blenheim one of its greatest victories. The augmentation which commemorates this is a s.h.i.+eld bearing the cross of St. George and in the centre a smaller s.h.i.+eld with the golden lilies of France.

In the year 1797 the Battle of Camperdown was fought, when Admiral Duncan defeated the Dutch Fleet and was created Lord Camperdown. To his family arms were added a naval crown and a representation of the gold medal given by George III. to Lord Camperdown to commemorate his victory.

The arms of Nelson are most interesting, inasmuch as one version of the arms carries two separate and distinct augmentations. It is not, however, the coat as it was granted to and borne by the great Admiral himself. After the Battle of the Nile he received the augmentation on the chief, a landscape showing the palm-tree, the disabled s.h.i.+p, and the battery in ruins. The one crest was the plume of triumph given to the Admiral by the Sultan Selim III., and his second crest, which, however, is not a crest of augmentation, was the stern of the Spanish s.h.i.+p _San Josef._ After his death at the Battle of Trafalgar his brother was created Earl Nelson, and a second augmentation, namely, a fess wavy sable with the word "Trafalgar"

upon it in gold letters, was added to the arms. This, however, has since been discontinued, except by Lord Bridport, who quarters it, whilst the Nelson family has reverted to the arms as they were borne by the great Admiral.