CHAPTER VI

THE GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY

SECTION III

_The Ordinaries:-- The Chief; Fesse; Bar; Pale; Cross, its heraldic varieties; Bend; Saltire; Chevron; and Pile._

"Marks of Hereditary Honour, given or authorised by some supreme Power." --SCIENCE OF HERALDRY.

THE ORDINARIES.--The simple Charges of early Heraldry, which always have been held in the highest esteem and which are most familiar, are:--The _Chief_, the _Fesse_, the _Bar_, the _Pale_, the _Cross_, the _Bend_, the _Saltire_, the _Chevron_, and the _Pile_. They may be considered to have been derived from various means that were adopted to strengthen Shields for use in combat, the _Cross_ always being in great favour from having a definite symbolism of its own. These Ordinaries may be formed by any of the Border Lines, No. 38. Occasionally they are borne alone; but more generally they are associated with other bearings, or they have various figures and devices charged upon themselves. In some cases, presently to be specified, more than one Ordinary may appear in a single composition. The _Bar_, the _Pale_, the _Bend_, and the _Chevron_ have _Diminutives_. The _Cross_ has many _Varieties_.

THE CHIEF (H. 3), bounded by a horizontal line, contains the uppermost third (or, in practice, somewhat less than the third, of the field of a Shield, as in No. 71. The Shield of LE BOTILER, No. 72, is--_Or, a chief indented az._ (H. 3). A Chief may be borne with any other Ordinary except the Fesse; it may also be charged with any other figures or devices:--thus, for Sire BERNARD DE BRUS, No. 73,--_Az., a chief and a saltire or_: for Sire JOHAN DE CLINTONE, No. 74,--_Arg., on a chief az. two fleurs de lys or_: and for Sire JOHAN DE CLINTONE de Madestoke, No. 75,--_Arg., on a chief az. two mullets or_ (all E. 2). When any charge is set in the uppermost third of a Shield, or when several charges are disposed in a horizontal row across the uppermost part of a Shield, they all are said to be "_in Chief_."

[Illustration: No. 71.]

[Illustration: No. 72.--Le Botiler.]

[Illustration: No. 73.--De Brus.]

[Illustration: No. 74.]

[Illustration: No. 75.--De Clintone.]

[Illustration: No. 76.--De Clifford]

[Illustration: No. 77.--De Pateshulle.]

[Illustration: No. 78.--Le Vavasour.]

THE FESSE (H. 3), which crosses the centre of a Shield horizontally, when charged occupies about one-third (or rather less than one-third) of the field; but when without charges, it is usually drawn somewhat narrower. The Shield of Lord CLIFFORD is,--_Chequée or and az., a fesse gu._, No. 76. For ROBT. LE FITZ-WATER,--_Or, a fesse between two chevrons gu._: for JOHN DE PATESHULLE, No. 77,--_Arg., a fesse sa., between three crescents gu._ (all H.3): for WILLIAM LE VAVASOUR, No. 78,--_Or, a fesse dancette sa._: for DE HEMENHALE, No. 79,--_Or, on a fesse between two chevrons gu., three escallops arg._: and for DE DAGEWORTHE, No. 80,--_Erm., a fesse gu. bezantée_ (all E. 2). When they are disposed in a horizontal row across the centre of a Shield, Charges are "_in fesse_."

[Illustration: No. 79.--De Hemenhale.]

[Illustration: No. 80.--De Dageworthe.]

[Illustration: No. 81.--De Harecourt.]

[Illustration: No. 82.--Wake.]

[Illustration: No. 83.--De Huntercumbe.]

[Illustration: No. 84.--De la Mere.]

THE BAR (H. 3), which may be placed horizontally in any part of the field except in fesse or at the chief of the Shield, is about one-fifth of the field (or sometimes less) in depth. A single bar very rarely occurs in blazon. Examples:--_Or, two bars gu._,--for DE HARECOURT, No. 81: _Az., two bars dancettée or_,--for DE RIVERES: _Or, two bars gu., in chief three torteaux_,--for WAKE, No. 82. The Diminutive of the Bar is the _Barrulet_, one-half of its width. When they are disposed in couples, Barrulets are _Bars Gemelles_, these not being so deep as the barrulet: thus, No. 83,--for DE HUNTERCUMBE,--_Erm., two bars gemelles gu._ (H. 3). A Fesse or Bar, when placed between two similar figures narrower than barrulets, is said to be _cotised_ by them; or, to be "doubly cotised," when placed between two bars gemelles: thus, for DE LA MERE, No. 84,--_Or, a fesse doubly cotised_ (or, _between two bars gemelles_) _az._ (E. 2). An _even_ number of bars alternately of a metal (or a fur) and a colour form the varied field which is to be blazoned "_barry_," the number of the bars in every case to be specified--as, "_barry of six_," "_barry of eight_," &c. If the number of bars exceeds _eight_ (some writers say _ten_), it is "_barrulée_" or "_barruly_"; and in this case it is not necessary that the number of the bars should be specified, the word _barrulée_ being used alone, or the expression "_barrulée sans nombre_" to denote a considerable number, but not a fixed number of bars--the number, however, always to be _even_. But this is a modern refinement of blazon to which little if any attention was paid in early days. It is to be observed that while the bars, whatever their number, if they are blazoned as bars, are to be treated as if they were executed in relief upon the field of a Shield, a Shield that is barry or barrulée has its field formed by bars which are all in the same plane. Examples:--_Barry of six or and gu._, for FITZ ALAN of Bedale, No. 85: _Barry of six arg. and az._, for DE GREY: _Barry of eight or and az._,--for DE PENBRUGGE (all H. 3): _Barrulée arg. and az., an orle of martlets gu._,--for DE VALENCE, Earl of PEMBROKE, No. 86; in this example _ten_ bars are represented, but in the noble enamelled shield of the first De Valence (A.D. 1296) preserved in Westminster Abbey, the bars are _twenty-eight_ in number. Charges, not "in fesse" or "in chief," that are disposed horizontally across the field are "_bar-wise_."

[Illustration: No. 85.--Fitzalan of Bedale.]

[Illustration: No. 86.--De Valence.]

[Illustration: No. 87.--Erskine.]

[Illustration: No. 88.--Grandison.]

THE PALE.--Like the Fesse, this Ordinary occupies rather less than a central third of the field, but it is _vertical_ in its position instead of horizontal. No. 87, for ERSKINE, is--_Arg., a pale sa._ Its Diminutives, the _Pallet_ and the _Endorse_, severally one-half and one-fourth of its width, may be placed vertically in any part of the field. A Pale between two Endorses is "_endorsed_" but the term _cotised_ is also employed with this meaning. An _even_ number of Pallets of a metal (or a fur) and a colour set alternately, form the varied field to be blazoned "_paly_," the number of the Pallets (which lie all in the same plane) always to be specified: thus--_Paly of six arg. and az., on a bend gu. three eaglets displayed or_, for GRANDISON, No. 88 (H. 3) Charges that are disposed one above another in a vertical row are "in pale." This is the arrangement of the three golden lions of England.

The CROSS (H. 3), formed from a combination of a Fesse with a Pale, in its simplest form is set erect in the centre of the field, and it extends to the border-lines of the Shield. If at any time it may be necessary or apparently desirable specially to set forth in the blazoning of a Shield, that a Cross charged upon it does thus extend to the border-lines, such a Cross is blazoned as a "_Cross throughout_." No. 1, _Arg., a Cross gu._, the armorial ensign of ST. GEORGE, the special Patron Saint of England, may be blazoned as "_A Cross of St. George_." Of this Cross, the great symbol of the Christian Faith, Spenser says--

"And on his brest a bloodie Cross he bore, The deare remembrance of his dying Lord.... Upon his Shield the like was also scored."

_Faerie Queen_, I. i. 2.

[Illustration: No. 89.--Cross fimbriated.]

[Illustration: No. 90.--Cross pointed.]

A Cross having a narrow border lying in the same plane with itself, is "fimbriated," such a border being a "_fimbriation_": thus, No. 89, _Az., a cross gu., fimbriated arg._, represents the Cross of St. George in our National "Union Jack." A Cross having its four extremities cut off square, so that it does not extend in any direction to the border-lines of the shield, is "_couped_" or "_humettée_". If the extremities of a Cross are cut off to points, it is "_pointed_," as in No. 90. If its central area is entirely removed, so that but little more than its outlines remain, it is "_voided_," or (H. 3) "_a false Cross_" ("faux croix"): when its four limbs are _equal_ in length, it is a "_Greek Cross_," as No. 91: when the limbs are _unequal_, the lower limb or shaft being longer than the other three, as in No. 92, it is a "_Latin Cross_" or a "long cross": but neither of these two last terms are used regarding the plain cross throughout, notwithstanding that differences in the shape of the shield may materially alter the proportion of the limbs. If a cross be formed of a shaft and two horizontal limbs only (like the letter T), as in No. 93, it is a "_Tau Cross_," or "_Cross Tau_": if it is pierced at the intersection of the limbs, and the entire central area be voided, it is said to be "_pierced quarterly_." A Latin Cross on steps, is "_on Degrees_," and it is distinguished as a "Calvary Cross." Charges having a cruciform arrangement are "_in Cross_."

[Illustration: No. 91.]

[Illustration: No. 92.]

[Illustration: No. 93.]

[Illustration: No. 94.--Quadrate.]

[Illustration: No. 95.--Patriarchal.]

[Illustration: No. 96.--Fourchée.]

[Illustration: No. 97.--Cross Moline: Arms of De Molines.]

[Illustration: No. 98.--Cross Recercelée: Arms of Bishop Anthony Bec.]

[Illustration: No. 99.--Cross Patonce: Arms of William de Vesci.]

[Illustration: No. 100.--Fleurie.]

[Illustration: No. 101.--Fleurettée.]

[Illustration: No. 102.--Pommée.]

The CROSS:--its HERALDIC VARIETIES. The Cross-symbol appears in English Heraldry under very many varieties and modifications of form and condition, some of them of great beauty. The following engraved representations of the various examples are so explicit, that descriptions of them are unnecessary. The Cross _Quadrate_, No. 94. The Cross _Patriarchal_, No. 95. The Cross _Fourchée_, No. 96. The Cross _Moline_, represented charged upon the Shield attributed to the SAXON KINGS OF ENGLAND, No. 23: this same shield--_Az., a Cross moline or_, is borne by DE MOLINES or MOLYNEUX, No. 97. The Cross _Cercelée_ or _Recercelée_ (H. 3),--_Gu., a Cross recercelée erm._, No. 98, for ANTHONY BEC, Bishop of DURHAM. The Cross _Patonce_ (H. 3),--_Gu., a Cross patonce arg._, No. 99, from the Seal of WM. DE VESCI, A.D. 1220. The Cross _Fleury_, No. 100, should be compared carefully with Nos. 97 and 99, the Crosses _Moline_ and _Patonce_. The Cross _Fleurettée_, No. 101. The Cross _Pommée_, No. 102. The Cross _Botonée_ or _Treflée_, No. 103. The Cross _Crosslet_, or _Crosslet crossed_, No. 104. The term "_Crosslet_" is strictly applicable to any Cross on a very small scale: but it is usually applied to denote a Cross that is crossed as in No. 104. Small Crosses Botonée are occasionally used as these "Crosses-Crosslets,"--as at Warwick in the arms of the BEAUCHAMPS, the Earls of WARWICK. Crosslets are frequently blazoned _semée_ over the field of a Shield, in which case the special term _crusilly_ is often used; and, in smaller numbers, they also are favourite Charges. No. 105 is the Cross _Clechée_ or _Urdée_.

[Illustration: No. 103.--Botonée.]

[Illustration: No. 104.--Crosslet.]

[Illustration: No. 105.--Clechée.]

[Illustration: No. 106.--Patée.]

[Illustration: No. 107.--Maltese.]

[Illustration: No. 108.--Potent.]

[Illustration: No. 109.--Avellane.]

[Illustration: No. 110.--Botonée Fitchée.]

The Cross _Patée_ or _Formée_ is represented in No. 106. No. 107 is the "_Cross of eight Points_," or the _Maltese_ Cross: this example is drawn from the portrait of PHILLIPPE DE VILLIERS DE L'ISLE-ADAM, elected forty-third Grand Master of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, A.D. 1521; this picture is in the possession of the Earl of Clarendon, K.G. The Cross _Potent_, No. 108. The Cross _Avellane_, No. 109. The _Crossed-Crosslet_, and the Crosses _Patée_, _Botonée_, and _Potent_, are also drawn having their shaft elongated and _pointed at the base_: in this form they are severally blazoned as a "_Crossed-Crosslet Fitchée_" (or _fitched_), a "_Cross Patée Fitchée_," &c.,--a Cross, that is, "_fixable_" in the ground; No. 110 is an example of a Cross _Botonée Fitchée_. Several of these varieties of the heraldic Cross occur but rarely; and there are other somewhat fanciful varieties so little in use, as to render any description of them unnecessary. The student of mediæval monumental antiquities will not fail to observe a certain degree of resemblance between some of the Crosses of Heraldry, and those that are incised and sculptured on sepulchral slabs.

[Illustration: No. 111.--Le Scrope.]

[Illustration: No. 112.--De Radclyffe.]

[Illustration: No. 113.--Le Boteler.]

[Illustration: No. 114.--Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford.]

[Illustration: No. 115.--Sir Gilbert de Bohun.]

The BEND (H. 3) resembles both the Fesse and the Pale in every condition, except that it crosses the field _diagonally_ from the dexter chief to the sinister base. No. 111, the Shield of SCROPE, is--_Az., a bend or_. A celebrated contest for the right to bear this simple Shield took place, A.D. 1385-1390, between Sir RICHARD LE SCROPE and Sir ROBERT GROSVENOR, which was decided in favour of the former. No. 112, for RADCLYFFE, is--_Arg., a bend engrailed sa._ Two uncharged Bends may appear in one composition: thus, for LE BOTELER--_Arg., two bends az._, No. 113; and for FRERE--_Gu., two bends or_ (both H. 3). The Diminutives of the Bend are the _Bendlet_ and the _Cotise_, the one containing one-half and the other one-fourth of its area. A Cotise is sometimes borne singly, when it is a _Riband_. A bendlet _couped_ is a baton. A Bend between two Cotises is _cotised_: thus, No. 114, for DE BOHUN,--_Az., a Bend arg., cotised or, between six lioncels rampt. gold_; this Shield is engraved from the Seal of HUMPHREY DE BOHUN, fourth Earl of HEREFORD (A.D. 1298-1322); in it the cotised Bend is very narrow, evidently to give more space for the lioncels. Charges displayed on a Bend _slope with it_--that is, they would be erect, were the Bend to be set vertically and to become a Pale: thus, another DE BOHUN, Sir Gilbert (H. 3), distinguishes his Shield by tincturing his Bend _or_, and charging upon it _three escallops gules_, as in No. 115. In No. 88, the eaglets also exemplify the disposition of charges upon a Bend. Charges set diagonally on the field of a Shield, in the position in which a bend would occupy, are said to be "_in bend_" and are arranged in the same manner: but it would be quite possible to have three or more charges each disposed bendwise; but yet, nevertheless, when taken together occupying the position of a fesse and therefore described also as in fesse. This distinction between charges bendwise (or bendways) and charges in bend should be carefully noted. A field divided into an _even_ number of parts by lines drawn _bendwise_, is "_bendy_," the number of the divisions to be specified: as a matter of course, a field thus "bendy" becomes a "varied field," in which all the divisions lie in the same plane: thus, No. 116, for DE MONTFORD (H. 3 and E. 2)--_Bendy of ten or and az._ Bendlets are in relief, as in No. 117, for DE BRAY--_Vairée, three Bendlets gu._ If a field be divided by lines drawn bendwise, and also by others drawn either vertically or horizontally, it is "_paly bendy_," as No. 118, or "_barry bendy_," as No. 119. These two forms, which, however, are very rarely met with, should be carefully distinguished from a field lozengy. A Bend issuing from the sinister chief is a _Bend Sinister_.

[Illustration: No. 116.--De Montford.]

[Illustration: No. 117.--De Bray.]

[Illustration: No. 118.--Paly Bendy.]

[Illustration: No. 119.--Barry Bendy.]

[Illustration: No. 120.--St. Andrew.]

[Illustration: No. 122.--De Neville.]

[Illustration: No. 121.--De Neville.]

The SALTIRE (H. 3), a combination of a Bend with a Bend Sinister, may also be regarded as a _Diagonal Cross_. Thus, the Crosses of St. ANDREW of SCOTLAND, and of St. PATRICK of IRELAND are Saltires--the former, No. 120--_Az., a Saltire arg._: the latter--_Arg., a Saltire gu._ The arms of the great family of NEVILLE reverse those of St. PATRICK, and are--_Gu., a Saltire arg._, No. 121: so Drayton has recorded that

"Upon his surcoat valiant NEVILLE bore A silver Saltire upon martial red." _Barons' War_, i. 22.

Charges set on a Saltire _slope with its limbs_ (all, however, pointing to the chief), _the central charge being erect_; and the disposition of charges set "_in saltire_" is the same: a single charge set on a Saltire is blazoned erect on the central point of the Ordinary, as in No. 122, another Shield of NEVILLE, in which the "Silver Saltire" is charged with a _rose gules_. A Saltire may be borne with a Chief, as in No. 73.

[Illustration: No. 123.--De Stafford.]

[Illustration: No. 124.--Shield of De Clare.]

The CHEVRON (H. 3), in form and proportions is rather more than the lower half of a Saltire. The Diminutive is a _Chevronel_, containing half a Chevron, or perhaps less: thus, for DE STAFFORD (E. 2),--_Or, a Chevron gu._, No. 123: for the great family of DE CLARE, from whom so many other families derived their Chevrons and Chevronels--_Or, three Chevronels gules_, No. 124 (H. 3). Two Chevrons may be borne in one composition: or they may appear with a Fesse, as in No. 79: or with a Chief, as (H. 3), for DE CROMBE--_Erm., a Chevron gu., and on a Chief of the last three escallops or_; for ST. QUINTIN (H. 3)--_Or, three Chevronels gu., a Chief vair_. A field _Chevronée_ is of rare occurrence: the three Chevronels of DE CLARE, however, No. 124, appear to have been derived from a field _Chevronée_: certainly, on his seal, "Strongbow" has the Chevronée Shield, No. 125, about A.D. 1175. Charges set on a Chevron, or disposed "_in Chevron_," are always placed erect.

[Illustration: No. 125.--Early shield of De Clare.]

[Illustration: No. 126.--De Chandos.]

[Illustration: No. 127.--De Brian.]

[Illustration: No. 128.--De Bassett.]

The PILE (H. 3), resembling a wedge in form, is borne both single and in small groups. Unless some other disposition on the field be specified, this Ordinary issues from the chief of the Shield. Examples: _Or, a Pile gu., between six and charged with three estoiles_ (or _mullets_) _counter-changed_,--for ROBERT DE CHANDOS, No. 126: _Or, three Piles az._, No. 127,--for Sir GUY DE BRIAN; _Or, three Piles gu., a canton erm._, No. 128,--for DE BASSETT (all H. 3): and (E. 2), _Arg., a Pile engrailed sa._--for Sir ROB. DE FORNEUS. In early emblazonments three piles appear almost uniformly to be depicted with the points converging. But a distinction is now made, and when the piles are intended to converge, as in No. 128, they are termed "_in point_."

The probable structural origin of these Ordinaries is sufficiently apparent to render any further comment on that interesting circumstance superfluous.

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