The Handbook to English Heraldry Part 17

_Harp._ A device and badge of Ireland. The Irish Harp of gold with silver strings on a blue field forms the third quarter of the Royal Arms.

_Hart._ A stag, with attires; the female is a _Hind_: page 81.

_Hastilude._ A tournament.

_Hatchment._ An achievement of arms in a lozenge-shaped frame, placed upon the front (generally over the princ.i.p.al entrance) of the residence of a person lately deceased. In the case of the decease of an unmarried person, or of a widower or widow, the whole of the field of the hatchment is painted black; but in the case of a married person, that part only of the field is black which adjoins the side of the achievement occupied by the armorial insignia of the individual deceased. Thus, if a husband be deceased, the dexter half of the field of the hatchment is black, and the sinister white; and so, in like manner, if the wife be deceased, the sinister is black and the dexter white.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 257.--Hawk's Lure.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 258.--Hawk's Bells and Jesses.]

_Hauriant._ A fish in pale, its head in chief.

_Hawk's bells, jesses, and lure._ A falconer's decoy, formed of feathers with their tips in base, and joined by a cord and ring, No. 257; also bells with straps to be attached to hawks, No. 258.

_Heightened._ Raised; placed above or higher.

_Heights._ Applied to plumes of feathers which are arranged in rows or sets, one rising above another. See _Panache_.

_Helm_, _Helmet_. Now placed as an accessory above a s.h.i.+eld of arms, and bearing its Crest after the fas.h.i.+on in which, in the Middle Ages, both Helm and Crest were actually worn in tournaments. A modern usage distinguishes Helms as follows:--The Sovereign--Helm of gold, with six bars, set _affrontee_, No. 259; n.o.blemen--Helm of silver, garnished with gold, set in profile, and showing five bars, No. 260; Baronets and Knights--of steel with silver ornaments, without bars, the vizor raised, set _affrontee_, No. 261; Esquires and Gentlemen--of steel, the vizor closed, and set in profile, Nos. 262, 263. The Helms that appear on early Seals and in other heraldic compositions till about A.D. 1600, are all set in profile, and the s.h.i.+eld generally hangs from them _couchee_, as in No. 49. In these early compositions, the s.h.i.+eld is small in proportion to the helm and its accessories.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 259.--Helm of the Sovereign.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 260.--Helm of n.o.bles.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 261.--Helm of Baronets and Knights.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Nos. 262, 263.--Helms of Esquires and Gentlemen.]

_Hemp-brake_, _Hackle_. An instrument having saw-teeth, used for bruising hemp.

_Heneage Knot._ No. 264.

_Herald._ An officer of arms. The Heralds of England were incorporated by RICHARD III.; and from Queen MARY, in 1555, they received a grant of Derby House, on the site of which, between St. Paul's Cathedral and the Thames, stands their present official residence, HERALDS' COLLEGE, or the COLLEGE OF ARMS. The college now consists of three KINGS-OF-ARMS--_Garter_, _Clarenceux_, and _Norroy_; six HERALDS, who have precedence by seniority of appointment--_Chester_, _Lancaster_, _Richmond_, _Windsor_, _York_, and _Somerset_; and four PURSUIVANTS--_Rouge Dragon_, _Portcullis_, _Rouge Croix_, and _Bluemantle_. The official habit is a _Tabard_, emblazoned with the Royal Arms, and the Kings and Heralds wear a _Collar of SS._ The Kings have a Crown, formed of a golden circlet, from which rise sixteen oak-leaves, nine of which appear in representations; and the circlet itself is charged with the words, _Miserere mei Deus secundum magnam misericordiam tuam_ ("Have mercy on me, O G.o.d, according to thy great loving-kindness").

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 264.--Heneage Knot.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 265.--Arms of the Heralds' College.]

The supreme head of the English Heralds, under the SOVEREIGN, is the EARL MARSHAL, an office hereditary in the family of the DUKE OF NORFOLK.

The Arms of the College are--_Arg., a cross gu., between four doves their dexter wings expanded and inverted az._: No. 265; Crest--_From a crest-coronet or, a dove rising az._; Supporters--_Two lions ramp.

guard. arg., ducally gorged or_. Each of the Kings has his own official arms, which he impales with his paternal coat on the _dexter_ side of the s.h.i.+eld. The Arms of Garter are--_Arg., a cross gu.; on a chief az., a ducal coronet encircled with a Garter of the Order, between a lion of England and a fleur de lys, all or_. Clarenceux and Norroy have the same s.h.i.+eld, but the former has _a lion of England only, crowned, on a chief gules_; and the latter, _on a chief per pale az. and gu._, has _a similar lion between a fleur de lys and a key, all of gold_.

There is also another King styled "Bath," who is specially attached to the Order of the Bath; he is not a member of the College.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 266.--Arms of Lyon Office.]

"Lyon King-of-Arms" is the chief Herald of Scotland; and the establishment over which he presides is styled the "Lyon Office." The Arms of the Office are--_Arg., a lion sejant erect and affronte gu., holding in his dexter paw a thistle slipped vert, and in the sinister an escutcheon of the second; on a chief az., a saltire of the first_: No.

266.

Ireland is the heraldic province of "Ulster King-of-Arms." His official armorial ensigns differ from those of Garter only in the _charges of the chief_, which are _a lion of England between a golden harp and a portcullis_.

_Herison._ A hedgehog.

_Hill_, _Hillock_. A mound of earth.

_Hirondelle._ A swallow.

_Hoist._ The depth of a flag from chief to base. See _Fly_.

_Honour Point._ No. 27, L.

_Humettee._ Cut short at the extremities.

_Hurst._ A clump of trees.

_Hurt._ A blue roundle.

_Illegitimacy._ See Chapter XII.

_Imbrued_, or _Embrued_. Stained with blood.

_Impaled._ Conjoined per pale.

_Impalement._ The uniting of two (or more) distinct coats per pale, to form a single achievement.

_Imperially Crowned._ Ensigned with the Crown of England.

_Incensed_, _Inflamed_. On fire; having fire issuing forth.

_Increscent._ No. 166, B. See _Decrescent_.

_Indented._ No. 38, A.

_Inescutcheon._ An heraldic s.h.i.+eld borne as a charge. This term is sometimes used to denote an _Escutcheon of Pretence_.

_In bend._ Disposed in the position of a bend; _In Chevron_, _In Chief_, _In Cross_, _In Fesse_, &c. Disposed after the manner of a chevron, or in the chief of the s.h.i.+eld, or in the form of a cross, &c.

_In Foliage._ Bearing leaves.

_In Lure._ Wings conjoined in the form of a hawk's lure.

_In her piety._ A term applied to a pelican feeding her young.

_In Pretence._ A term applied to a single inescutcheon placed upon and in the centre of a larger escutcheon.

_In Pride._ Having the tail displayed, as a peac.o.c.k's.