CHAPTER IX

THE GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY

SECTION VI

_The Lion and the Eagle in Heraldry_

"The LION and a King of Beasts." --SHAKESPEARE, _Richard II._

"The EAGLE, ennobled by Nature in as high a degree of nobility as the chiefest of the terrestrial animals, is the most honourable bearing of Birds." --GWILLIM (_Edition of 1724_).

The regal dignity of the LION amongst the creatures that are quadrupeds, like himself, would naturally secure for him a position of corresponding eminence in Heraldry. From the dawn of the heraldic era, accordingly, the Lion is blazoned on the Shields of Sovereigns, Princes, and Nobles. The tressured Lion has been already noticed upon the Royal Shield of SCOTLAND, No. 138; and a crowned Lion has also appeared in the same attitude, borne by an English Prince, RICHARD, Earl of CORNWALL, No. 140. From the time that they first possessed any true armorial insignia, the Sovereigns of the Realm of ENGLAND have borne Lions upon their Royal Shield. A Lion was the Ensign of the Native Princes of WALES, as he was of the Kings of LEON, of NORWAY, and of DENMARK, and of the Counts of HOLLAND, HAINAULT, EU, &c. And, in like manner, the Lion was in high favour with the most noble and powerful Barons of England--the MOWBRAYS, BOHUNS, LONGESPEES, FITZ-ALANS, LACIES, PERCIES, SEGRAVES, and such as they.

It was a necessary consequence of his great popularity that the Lion of Heraldry should be blazoned in various attitudes, and also variously tinctured, otherwise it would not be possible duly to distinguish the Lions of different Shields. Heralds of all countries appear readily to have permitted their Lions to lay aside their natural tawny hue, and in its stead to assume the heraldic _or_, _argent_, _azure_, _gules_, and _sable_; but Continental Heralds were not generally disposed to recognise in their Lions any other attitude than the one which they held to be consistent with their Lion character, instincts, and habits--erect, that is, with one hind paw only on the ground, looking forward towards their prey, so as to show but one eye, and evidently in the act of preparing to spring. This undoubtedly most characteristic attitude is _rampant_, No. 171: and only when he was in this rampant attitude did the early Heralds consider any Lion to be a Lion, and blazon him by his true name. A Lion walking and looking about him, the early Heralds held to be acting the part of a leopard: consequently, when he was in any such attitude, they blazoned him as "_a leopard_." The animal bearing that name bore it simply as an heraldic title, which distinguished a Lion in a particular attitude. These heraldic "leopards" were drawn in every respect as other heraldic "lions," without spots or any leopard_ish_ distinction whatever. This explains the usage, retained till late in the fourteenth century, which assigned to the Lions of the Royal Shield of England the name of "leopards." They were so called, not by the enemies of England for derision and insult, as some persons, in their ignorance of early Heraldry, have been pleased both to imagine and to assert; but the English Kings and Princes, who well knew their "Lions" to be Lions, in blazon styled them "leopards," because they also knew that Lions in the attitude of their "Lions" were heraldic "leopards." When at length the necessity of varying the attitude of their Lions was admitted by all Heralds, in consequence of the greatly increased numbers of the bearers of Lions, some strict adherents to the original distinctive nomenclature blazoned any Lion that was _not rampant_ by the compound term of a "_lion-leopard_," or a "_lion-leopardé_." But that controversy has long been at rest.

The following terms are now in use to denote the various attitudes of the Lion in Heraldry:--

_Rampant_: erect, one hind paw on the ground, the other three paws elevated, the animal looking forward and having his tail elevated, No. 171. _Rampant Guardant_: as before, but looking out from the Shield, No. 172. _Rampant Reguardant_: as before, but looking backwards.

_Passant_: walking, three paws on the ground, the dexter fore-paw being elevated, looking forward, the tail displayed over the back, No. 173. _Passant Guardant_: as before, but looking out from the Shield, No. 174. _Passant Reguardant_: as before, but looking backwards.

[Illustration: No. 171.--Rampant.]

[Illustration: No. 172.--Rampant Guardant.]

[Illustration: No. 173.--Passant.]

[Illustration: No. 174.--Passant Guardant.]

[Illustration: No. 175.--Statant.]

[Illustration: No. 176.--Statant Guardant.]

_Statant_: standing, his four paws on the ground, and looking before him, No. 175. _Statant Guardant_: as before, but looking out from the Shield, No. 176: in this example the Lion has his tail extended, but this would be specified in the blazon, as it is an unusual position. In like manner, if the tail of a Lion in any other attitude be extended, there must be a statement to that effect.

[Illustration: No. 177.--Couchant.]

[Illustration: No. 178.--Sejant.]

[Illustration: No. 179.--Dormant.]

_Sejant_: sitting down with his head elevated, No. 178. If he looks out from the Shield, the word _Guardant_ is to be added. A Scottish Lion sejant usually has his fore paws raised in the air, and in English terms of blazon would be described as "_Sejant erect_" or "_Sejant rampant_."

_Couchant_: is at rest, the fore legs stretched on the ground, as No. 177.

_Dormant_: asleep, head resting on fore paws, No. 179.

_Salient_: in the act of springing, the hind paws on the ground, both the fore paws elevated, No. 180.

[Illustration: No. 180.--Salient.]

[Illustration: No. 181.--Double-queued.]

[Illustration: No. 182.--Coward.]

_Queue fourchée_: having a forked tail.

_Double-queued_: two tails, as No. 181, which is a _lion rampant double-queued_.

_Coward: passant reguardant_, his tail between his legs, No. 182.

Two Lions rampant, when face to face, are _Counter rampant_, or _Combatant_: when back to back, they are _Addorsed_: when passant or salient in contrary directions, they are _Counter passant_ or _Counter salient_.

Lions, whatever their tincture, except it be red, or they are charged on a field of that tincture, are _armed and langued gules_; but _azure_ in the case of either of these exceptions, unless the contrary be specified in the blazon. When several Lions appear in one composition, or when they are drawn to a comparatively very small scale, they are sometimes blazoned as "_Lioncels_." This term "_Lioncel_," it must be added, when used alone, denotes a _small Lion rampant_.

[Illustration: No. 183.--Lion's Head.]

[Illustration: No. 184.--Lion's Face.]

[Illustration: No. 185.--Lion's Jambe.]

A Lion's _head_ is a Charge: it may be _erased_, as in No. 183; or cut off smooth, when it is _couped_. A Lion's _face_ also is a Charge, No. 184; so is his _jambe_ or _paw_, No. 185. A _demi-lion rampant_ is the upper half of his body and the extremity of his tufted tail, as in No. 186.

[Illustration: No. 186.--Demi-Lion Rampant.]

[Illustration: No. 187.--England.]

The LIONS OF ENGLAND are _golden Lions leopardé_, three in number, placed one above the other on a red Shield. They are blazoned--_Gu., three Lions pass. guard., in pale, or_, No. 187.

A Lion in this attitude, of this tincture, and on a field gules, may be blazoned as a "Lion of England." These three Lions _first_ appear upon the second Great Seal of RICHARD I., A.D. 1194, on the Shield of the King, No. 188. An earlier Seal, used by Prince JOHN before his brother's accession, has a Shield charged with _two_ Lions only, and they are _passant_, No. 189. The first Great Seal of the lion-hearted King has a Shield, bowed in its contour, and charged with a _single_ Lion rampant facing to the sinister, or _counter-rampant_, No. 190; and it has been conjectured that, were the whole face of this Shield visible, a second Lion rampant facing to the dexter would appear, thus charging the Shield with _two Lions combattant_; this, however, is a conjecture which is not supported by the authority of many Shields of the same form. A red Shield charged with _two golden Lions passant guardant in pale_ (No. 22), and therefore closely resembling No. 189, as I have already shown, has been assigned to WILLIAM I., and his two sons and his grandson, WILLIAM II., HENRY I., and STEPHEN. The Shield bearing the three Lions, No. 187, has been assigned to HENRY II., but it first makes its appearance on the Great Seal of his son. The probability is that up to this period the device was simply a lion, indeterminate in position or numbers. This same Shield has continued, from the time of RICHARD I., to display the ROYAL ARMS of the REALM OF ENGLAND: how, in the course of ages, these Arms become grouped with other insignia, I shall presently have to show.

[Illustration: No. 188.--Richard I.--2nd Gt. Seal.]

[Illustration: No. 190.--Richard I.--1st Gt. Seal.]

[Illustration: No. 189.--Prince John.--Seal.]

[Illustration: No. 191.--Le Strange.]

[Illustration: No. 192.--Giffard.]

[Illustration: No. 193.--Mowbray.]

The _Lion passant_ is carefully distinguished in the earliest Rolls as a different Charge from the _Lion passant guardant_. Thus (H. 3), for HAMON LE STRANGE--_Gu., two Lions passant arg._, No. 191; and for JOHN GIFFARD--_Gu., three Lions pass. arg._, No. 192: for Sir NICHOLAS CAREW (E. 2),--_Or, three Lions pass. sa._

[Illustration: No. 194.--De Lacy.]

[Illustration: No. 195.--De Segrave.]

From the numerous early Shields which bear _Lions rampant_, I select the following examples, associated with names illustrious in English History. For ROGER DE MOWBRAY (H. 3)--_Gu., a Lion rampt. arg._, No. 193: this Coat is quartered by the present Lord MOWBRAY, SEGRAVE and STOURTON. For FITZ-ALAN, Earl of ARUNDEL--_Gu., a Lion rampt. or_ (H. 3), No. 193. For DE LACI, Earl of LINCOLN--_Or, a Lion rampt. purpure_ (E. 2), No. 194. For Sir JOHN DE SEGRAVE (E. 2)--_Sa., a Lion rampt. arg., crowned or_, No. 195. For PERCY, Earl of NORTHUMBERLAND--_Or, a Lion rampt. az._, No 196: this Shield is drawn from the fine counter-seal of Sir HENRY DE PERCY, first Lord of Alnwick, who died A.D. 1315.

Two Shields of the DE BOHUNS, Nos. 114, 115, already described, exemplify the display of Lioncels as heraldic charges. An earlier Shield, charged with six Lioncels, but without any Ordinary, was borne by FAIR ROSAMOND'S son, WILLIAM LONGESPÉE, Earl of SALISBURY, A.D. 1226: it is boldly sculptured with his noble effigy in Salisbury Cathedral, and it also appears upon his Seal--_Az., six Lioncels or_, No. 197. The Roll of Edward II., confirmed by his Seal, gives for Sir WM. DE LEYBOURNE the same composition, with a difference in the tincturing--_Az., six Lioncels arg._ Other members of the same family change these tinctures for _gules and or_, _gules and argent_, and _or and sable_ (E. 2). Examples of Shields which bear Lions or Lioncels with various other charges will be described and illustrated in succeeding chapters.

[Illustration: No. 196.--De Percy.]

[Illustration: No. 197.--Longespée.]

Lions also fulfil important duties of high honour in English Heraldry as _Crests_ and _Supporters_, and also as _Badges_. From the time of EDWARD III. a Crowned Lion, at the first standing on a Cap of Estate, and afterwards upon the Crown, has been the Royal Crest of ENGLAND; a Lion also has always been the Royal Crest of SCOTLAND (see Chapter XVIII .). The Princes of the Royal Houses of England, in like manner, have always borne the Royal Lion distinguished by some "Mark of Cadency" (see