The Handbook to English Heraldry Part 10

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 209.--De la Mere.]

Eagles, under their name of "_Alerions_" (which early Heralds represented without feet and beaks), are blazoned in the same disposition as in No. 209, in the Arms of the Duchy of LORRAINE,--_Or, on a Bend gu. three alerions arg._: and this device the Dukes of Lorraine _are said_ to have borne in commemoration of an exploit of their famous ancestor, G.o.dFREY DE BOLOGNE, _who is also said_, when "shooting against David's tower in Jerusalem," to have "broched upon his arrow three footless birds called alerions." "It is impossible," remarks Mr. Planche upon this legend, "now to ascertain who broached this wonderful story; but it is perfectly evident that the narrator was the party who drew the long bow, and not the n.o.ble G.o.dFREY." Mr. Planche adds, that the Alerions of Lorraine may indicate an alliance with the Imperial House; and he directs attention to "a similarity in sound between 'Alerion' and 'Lorraine,'" and also to a singular Anagram produced by the letters ALERION and LORAINE, which are the same ("Pursuivant of Arms," p. 87). The Arms of Lorraine are still borne by the Emperor of AUSTRIA: and in England they were quartered by Queen MARGARET of Anjou.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 210.--s.h.i.+eld at St. Albans.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 211.--The Austrian Eagle.]

The Roll of Edward II. gives also for Sir HUGH DE BILBESWORTH these arms--_Az., three Eagles displayed or_. A similar s.h.i.+eld, the tinctures changed to--_Arg., three Eagles displayed gu., armed or_, was borne by ROBERT DE EGLESFIELD, Confessor to PHILIPPA of Hainault, Queen of EDWARD III., who in the year 1340 founded Queen's College, Oxford: this s.h.i.+eld of the Founder is borne by the College. One of the s.h.i.+elds in the Chantry of Abbot RAMRYGE in St. Albans Abbey Church bears the same charges--_three eagles displayed_, No. 210: the drawing of the eagle in this s.h.i.+eld is remarkable, and the form of the s.h.i.+eld itself is singularly characteristic of the close of the fifteenth century. Another s.h.i.+eld in the same monument bears a single Eagle, drawn in the same manner, and sculptured with extraordinary spirit. The German Heralds, and also their brethren of France, delight in exaggerations of what I may distinguish as the Westminster Eagle, No. 200. The Austrian Eagle, besides having both its heads crowned, has a large Imperial Crown placed between and above the two heads, as in No. 211. The Imperial Eagle (Holy Roman Empire) sometimes has a nimbus or glory about each head, which dignified accessory is represented by a circular line, as in No. 212. In some examples of Eagles, as well in our own Heraldry as in that of continental countries, the wings are represented as _erect_ (the more usual form in England), and having the tips of all the princ.i.p.al feathers pointing upwards, as in No. 213. The Eagle borne as the Ensign of Imperial FRANCE was represented grasping a thunderbolt, in an att.i.tude of vigilance, having its wings displayed, but with the tips of the feathers drooping, as they would be in the living bird; No. 214.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 212.--Imperial Eagle, with Nimbus.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 213.--Eagle "displayed," with Wings erect.]

EDWARD III., as a Second Crest, bore an Eagle. An Eagle also was borne for his Crest, as the imperial bird was displayed upon his s.h.i.+eld (No.

206), by Earl RALPH DE MONTHERMER. In the more recent Heraldry of England, the Eagle is a Supporter to the s.h.i.+elds of the Earls of CLARENDON, COVENTRY, and MALMESBURY; the Viscounts BOLINGBROKE and ST.

VINCENT; and the Barons HEYTESBURY, RADSTOCK, WYNFORD, and others.

Eagles also and Demi-Eagles are borne as Crests in the English Heraldry of our own day.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 214.--French Imperial Eagle.]

In drawing our heraldic Eagles, we can scarcely improve upon some of the examples in which early English Heralds expressed their ideas of the king of birds.

CHAPTER X

THE GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY

SECTION VII

_Glossary of t.i.tles, Names, and Terms_

"The several denominations given to these tokens of honour ...

with the terms of art given to them."

--RANDLE HOME: "Academy of Armoury," A.D. 1688.

In this Glossary, which obviously must be as concise as possible, I shall include no word that is ordinarily well understood, unless some special signification should be attached to it when it is in use in armorial blazon.

_Abased._ Said of a charge when placed lower than its customary position.

_Abatement._ A supposed sign of degradation. (See Chapter XII.)

_Accollee._ Placed side by side.

_Accosted._ Side by side.

_Achievement_, or _Achievement of Arms_. Any complete heraldic composition.

_Addorsed._ Back to back.

_Affrontee._ So placed as to show the full face or front.

_Alerion._ A name sometimes given by early Heralds to the heraldic _Eagle_, which, when blazoned under this t.i.tle, was also sometimes drawn without legs or beak. (See p. 97.)

_Ambulant._ In the act of walking.

_Annulet._ A plain ring; sometimes blazoned as a "_false roundle_": in modern English cadency, the difference of the fifth son or brother: No.

154.

_Annulettee._ Ending in Annulets.

_Antelope._ Depicted by early Heralds in a conventional manner, but now generally rendered more naturally, the earlier type being termed the heraldic antelope.

_Anthony, St._ His cross is in the form of the letter T, No. 93.

_Antique Crown._ See _Eastern Crown_.

_Appaumee._ Said of a hand, when open, erect, and showing the palm: No.

215.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 215.--Badge of Ulster.]

_Arched._ Bent, or bowed.

_Archbishop._ A prelate of the highest order in the English Church; his heraldic insignia are his _Mitre_, _Crozier_, and _Pall_. Next to the Royal Family, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the first subject in the realm; he is styled "Most Reverend Father in G.o.d," "by Divine Providence," and "Your Grace." The Archbishop of York is third in rank (the Lord Chancellor being second), and his style is the same, except that he is Archbishop "by Divine permission." Archbishops impale their own arms with those of their see, the latter being marshalled to the dexter.

_Argent._ The metal silver.

_Arm._ A human arm. When a charge, crest, or badge, it must be blazoned with full particulars as to position, clothing, &c. If couped between the elbow and the wrist, it is a _cubit arm_.

_Armed._ A term applied to animals and birds of prey, to denote their natural weapons of offence and defence: thus, a Lion is said to be "_armed_ of his claws and teeth"; a Bull, to be "_armed_ of his horns"; an Eagle, "of its beak and talons."

_Armory._ Heraldry. Also, a List of Names and t.i.tles, with their respective Arms.

_Arms_, _Armorial Bearings_. Heraldic compositions, and the Figures and Devices which form them. (See Chapter I.)

_Arms of Community._ Borne by Corporate and other Bodies and Communities, as cities, colleges, &c.

_Arms of Dominion._ Borne by Sovereign Princes, being also the Sovereign arms of the realms over which they rule.

_Arms of Office._ Borne, with the personal arms, to denote official rank.

_Armes Parlantes._ Such as are allusive to the Name, t.i.tle, Office, or Property of those who bear them: thus, _Leaves_ for _Leve_son, a _Castle_ for _Castile_, a _Cup_ for _Butler_, _Fish_ for those who derive revenues from Fisheries, &c. The more usual term is, however, "canting arms" (See _Rebus_: also page 15.)

_Arrow._ Is _barbed_ of its head, and _flighted_ of its feathers; a bundle of arrows is a _sheaf_; with a blunt head, it is a _bird-bolt_.

_At Gaze._ A term applied to animals of the chase, to denote their standing still, and looking straight forward: No. 167.