The Curiosities of Heraldry Part 14

Grand Butler, Two bottles ornamented with the royal arms.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The most singular supporters, perhaps, in the whole circle of heraldry are those of the n.o.ble French family of Albret. Two lions couchant, wearing helmets, support the lower part of the s.h.i.+eld, and, above, are two eagles, each standing with one foot upon the head of the lion, while with the other he holds the upper part of the escocheon. The French armorists make a distinction between _supports_ and _tenans_: in this instance the lions are known by the former term, and the eagles by the latter.

Mottoes will form the subject of a short separate chapter: it therefore only remains, in this brief view of extra-scutal insignia, to notice BADGES.

Some families, as has already been observed, have no crests; a still greater number have no mottoes; and supporters belong to an exclusive few.

Badges are still more unusual, and in modern times it would perhaps be a matter of difficulty to enumerate twenty families who use them.

_Badge_, in its ordinary acceptation, signifies the mark or token of any thing; thus we are accustomed to call fetters the _badge_ of slavery, and a plain gold ring the _badge_ of matrimony; and thus in a figurative, or moral sense, Shakspeare says,

"Sweet mercy is n.o.bility's true _badge_."

The word is of uncertain etymology. Junius derives it from 'bode,' or 'bade,' a messenger, and supposes it to be a _contractio per crasin_ from 'badage,' the credential of a messenger. Skinner and Minsheu, again, deduce it from 'bagghe,' Dutch, a jewel, or from 'bague,' French, a ring.

But Johnson, with more reason, considers it a derivative of the Latin '_bajulo_,' to carry.

"But on his breast a b.l.o.o.d.y cross he bore, The dear resemblance of his dying lord; For whose sweet sake that glorious _badge_ he wore."

_Spenser._

In heraldry, _badges_ are a kind of subsidiary arms used to commemorate family alliances, or some territorial rights or pretensions.[179]

Sometimes, also, and perhaps more generally, they serve as trophies of some remarkable exploit achieved by an ancestor of the bearer. In the feudal ages most baronial families had their peculiar badges, and their dependents were recognized by having them embroidered upon their sleeves or b.r.e.a.s.t.s. They were generally placed upon a ground tinctured of the livery colours of the family.[180] Something a.n.a.logous to this fas.h.i.+on is retained in the crest which adorns the b.u.t.tons of our domestic servants, and still more so in the badges by which the firemen and watermen of London are distinguished. Badges were also employed in various other ways, as, for example, on the furniture of houses, on robes of state, on the caparisons of horses, on seals, and in the details of gothic edifices. An instance of the various applications of the badge of one n.o.ble family has been familiar to me from childhood--the Buckle, the badge a.s.sumed by Sir John de Pelham in commemoration of his having been princ.i.p.ally concerned in the capture of John, king of France, at the battle of Poictiers.[181]

This trophy occurs, as an appendage to the family _arms_, into which it is also introduced as a quartering; on the _ecclesiastical buildings_ of which the family were founders, or to which they were benefactors;[182] on the architectural ornaments of their _mansions_ at Laughton, Halland, &c.; on antient _seals_; as the _sign of an inn_ near their estate at Bishopstone, &c.; and among the humbler uses to which the BUCKLE has been applied may be mentioned the decoration of the cast-iron chimney-backs in the farmhouses on the estate, the embellishment of milestones, and even the marking of sheep. Throughout the whole of that part of eastern Suss.e.x over which the Pelham influence extends there is no 'household word' more familiar than the =Pelham Buckle=.[183]

The following are the badges of a few other antient families:

The Lords Hungerford used a golden garb, which seems to have been taken from the arms of the Peverells, whose co-heiress married William Lord Hungerford, temp. Henry V. They were 'Azure, three garbs or.'

Edward Lord Hastings, who married the grand-daughter and heiress of the peer just named, bore on his standard the garb with a sickle--another badge of the Hungerfords--united by a golden cord.

John de Willoughby de Eresby, temp. Edward III, used two buckles, which he probably borrowed from the arms of his wife, the heiress of Roceline: 'Gules, crusily and three buckles argent.'

One of the Nevilles, Lords Bergavenny, bore two badges: first, two staples interlaced, one gold, the other silver; and second, a fret gold: these occur on a tomb at Mereworth, co. Kent.[184]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The badge of the Lords Dacre was an escallop united to a ragged staff, as in the margin.

The family of Parr used a tuft of daisies; and the Percies a silver crescent:

"The minstrels of thy n.o.ble house, All clad in robes of blue, With silver crescents on their arms, Attend in order due."

_Hermit of Warkworth._

In the 'Rising of the North Countrie' this badge and the _dun bull_ of the Nevilles are mentioned. Of the latter we are told:

"Lord Westmoreland his ancyent raysde, The _dun bull_ he rays'd on hye, And three dogs with golden collars, Were there set out most royallye."[185]

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Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, used the punning device of lions and _mulberry_-trees; and Vere, Earl of Oxford, a long-necked silver bottle, with a blue cord, allusive to his hereditary post of lord high chamberlain.

Sometimes these insignia answered the double purpose of the crest and the badge. Some badges, however, as Mr. M. remarks, are not at all suitable for crests. This applies particularly to _Knots_, which were composed either of silk, or of gold and silver lace, and were antiently a favourite species of badge. The families of Harrington, Wake, Bouchier, Stafford, Heneage, and others, each bore a peculiar knot.

The regal heraldry of this country is peculiarly rich in badges. Mr.

Montagu has, with great research, compiled a nearly perfect list of them from William Rufus to James I, to which the reader who desires further information on this subject is referred.[186] Meantime I shall notice a few of the most celebrated.

The broom-plant, or _planta-genesta_, was introduced by Henry II. From this badge the ill.u.s.trious line of Plantagenet derived their surname. The story of its origin, be it true or false, is well known.

The first monarch who a.s.sumed the rose was Edward I, who bore the flower or, the stalk green. From this, in some way as yet unexplained, probably originated the white and red roses of his descendants, the rival houses of York and Lancaster. Richard II adopted the white hart and white falcon, both of which afterwards became the t.i.tles of pursuivants. The white swan of Henry IV is said to have been derived from the Bohuns, Earls of Hereford, the family of his first wife. The double S,[187] concerning which so much conjecture has been wasted, was another badge of this monarch.

"The device of Margaret of Anjou, Queen of Henry VI, was a daisy, in allusion to her name:

'The daise a floure white and rede, In French called la belle Margarete.'

_Chaucer._"

The extensive use of badges by the retainers of princes is shown by the order of Richard III for the making of thirteen thousand _boars_ "wrought upon fustian," to be used at his coronation.

The rose and portcullis are amongst the most familiar of royal badges.

These were used by the Tudors. The Tudor rose was a blending of the white and red roses of the two factions, united in this line of sovereigns. The portcullis came originally from the family of Beaufort. James I combined the dexter half of the Tudor rose with the sinister moiety of the Scottish thistle, ensigned with a crown. At present, when the badges of the three kingdoms are represented with the royal arms, little attention is paid to heraldric propriety. The rose, shamrock, and thistle are figured, not _secundum artem_, but according to the fancy of the painter.

Henry VIIIth's regard to heraldric matters is shown by his giving to pieces of ordnance names corresponding with the t.i.tles borne by the officers of arms.[188] This is further exemplified by the names he gave the s.h.i.+ps composing his fleet, as Hart, Antelope, Tegar, and Dragon. The smaller vessels were mostly distinguished by the names of the royal badges, such as the Fawcon and Fetterlock, Portquilice, Hynde, Double-Rose, Hawthorn,[189] &c.[190] Some of these badges are still retained as signs of inns, particularly the Swan and White-Hart, both of which should be ducally gorged and chained, though these appendages, from the ignorance of sign-painters, are frequently omitted.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (Abbot Islip's Rebus, vide p. 125)]

CHAPTER VIII.

Heraldric Mottoes.

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"We ought to be meek-spirited till we are a.s.sured of the honesty of our ancestors; for covetousness and circ.u.mvention make no good _motto_ for a coat."

_Collier._

A motto is a word, or short sentence, inserted in a scroll placed generally under a coat of arms, and occasionally over the crest. The word is Italian, and equivalent to _verb.u.m_. As usual with things of long standing, a variety of opinions exists as to the origin of these pithy and interesting appendages to family ensigns. It would be erroneous to suppose that mottoes belong exclusively to Heraldry, for they are of much more antient date than the first outline of that system. Both sacred and profane history furnish us with proofs of their very early use. The declaration of the Almighty to Moses,[191] "I am that I am," may be regarded as a motto expressive of the immutability of the Divine perfections. Among mankind, mottoes must have been chosen to express the predominant feelings of piety, love, moral virtue, military courage, and family pride, as soon as those feelings manifested themselves, that is to say, in the earliest stages of social existence. Without tarrying to enter into the philosophy of this subject, it will be sufficient for us here to inquire in what way these brief expressions of sentiment became the almost indispensable adjunct to the armorial honours of individuals and of families.

The origin of heraldric mottoes might probably be traced to two sources, in themselves diametrically opposed to each other; I mean Religion and War. "Extremes," we are told, "sometimes meet," and certainly these two feelings did coalesce in the inst.i.tutions of chivalry, if we may be allowed to prost.i.tute the holy name of religion by identifying it with the frenzy which possessed the human mind in such enterprises as the Crusades.

It is uncertain whether we ought to deduce the origin of mottoes from those devout e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns, such as ='Drede G.o.d!'--'Jesu mercy--Lady helpe,'= which occur on antient tombs, or from the _word of onset_, employed by generals on the battle-field to stimulate their soldiers to great feats of prowess. The preponderance in point of number of religious mottoes would incline us to the former supposition; but the general opinion of our best authors favours a military origin. The war-cry, known in Latin as the _Clamor militaris_, in French as the _Cri de guerre_, and in the Scottish language as the _Slughorn_, or _Slogan_, is of very remote antiquity. In early scripture history we have an example in "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon," the word of onset employed by the Hebrews against the Midianites in the valley of Jezreel.[192] Among barbarous nations at the present day it has its representative in the war-whoop, or yell, employed as well to animate the courage of their own party as to inspire terror in the hearts of their enemies. From an early period the phrase '=a boo!=' was employed by the Irish for these purposes. This expression, in course of time, became the motto of many of the great families of that island, with the adjunct of their surname or the name of their chief fortress. Hence the '_Crom a boo_' of the Earls of Leinster; the '_Shanet a boo_' of the Earls of Desmond; the '_Butler a boo_' of the Butlers; the '_Galriagh a boo_' of the Bourkes, Lords Clanricarde, &c. &c. In England, France, and other countries, an invocation of the patron saints, St.

George, St. Denis, &c. const.i.tuted the war-cry of the common cause; but in intestine wars each party had their separate cry, and every commander urged on his forces by the well-recognized shout of his own house. That this practice prevailed in England so recently as the close of the fifteenth century appears from an Act of Parliament, pa.s.sed in the tenth year of Henry VII, to abolish these cries as productive of rancour among the n.o.bles, who, with their retainers, were thenceforth enjoined to call only upon St. George and the king.

The following are some of the antient _cris-de-guerre_:

The kings of France, 'Montjoye[193] St. Denis!'

The kings of England, 'Montjoye Notre Dame, St. George!'