“Wore, against his wont, upon his helm
A sleeve of scarlet, broidered with great pearls,
Some gentle maiden’s gift.”
No. 379.— Helm of Thomas, second Earl of Lancaster.
The seal of Thomas, second Earl of Lancaster, about A.D. 1320, gives an excellent example both of such figures as were beginning at that early time to supersede the Fan-Crests, and also of the Contoise; No. 379. About this same period the fashion was introduced of fixing two tall spikes, one on each side of the Crest, upon the helm, probably intended in the first instance to display the contoise. These singular spikes may have been derived by the English Heralds from their brethren of Germany, who delighted, as they still delight, in placing upon helms as Crests, or as the accessories of Crests, small banners displayed from staves set erect and surmounted by spear-heads. In German Heraldry also Crests are very frequently placed between tall upright horns or trumpets: and, sometimes, upon a German helm the Crest stands between horns shaped like two elephant’s trunks (for which they have often been mistaken by English Heralds), placed in the same erect position, and, like the trumpets, so adjusted as to have the general aspect of the curved outline of a classic lyre. The helm of Sir Geoffrey Luterell, A.D. 1345, No. 380, drawn from a celebrated illumination, between the tall spikes has a late example of the Fan-Crest; and it exemplifies the practice sometimes adopted of charging armorial insignia upon Crests of this fan form. The Arms of Luterell—Or, a bend and six martlets sa.—were borne by Sir Geoffrey thus differenced (E. 2)—Az., a bend and six martlets arg. A pair of lofty upright wings were held in much esteem in the Heraldry of both England and Scotland, to form the accessories of Crests. The Seal of Sir Robert de Marny, A.D. 1366, No. 381, shows his armorial shield—Gu., a lion rampant arg., suspended from a tree, between two crested helms, the crest in both cases being a winged chapeau, having the wings very tall and very slender.
| No. 380.— Helm and Crest of Sir Geoffrey Luterell: A.D. 1345. | No. 381.— Seal of Sir Robert de Marny, A.D. 1366. |
From the earliest times, Crests have occasionally been identical with the principal charge in the Shield of Arms, or they have repeated the principal charge with some slight modification of attitude or accessory: but, more generally, Crests have been altogether distinct. The Dragon and the Wyvern, the latter well exemplified in [No. 315], are amongst the earliest figures that were borne as Crests in England. Other early Figure-Crests are the Lion, crowned and assumed for the first time by an English Sovereign by Edward III.; and the Eagle, borne by the same Prince. Various devices and figures are found gradually to have been added to these earliest Crests. The graceful and peculiarly appropriate Panache soon joined them, with the heads of various animals and other creatures: and, as the fourteenth century advances, the Crest-Coronet, [No. 232], the Crest-Wreath, [No. 233], and the Chapeau, [No. 224], assume their places in connection with Crests; and the Mantling falls in rich folds from them, covering the back of the Helm. In the succeeding century, with Helms less dignified in form, but more elaborately enriched, and with strangely fantastic Mantlings, Crests become considerably larger in their proportions; and they often are extravagant in their character, devices constantly being assumed and borne as Crests, which are no less inconsistent with true heraldic feeling, than with the peculiar conditions and the proper qualities of true heraldic Crests. The Crest of the Duke of Hamilton, [No. 301], is far from being one of the most inconsistent devices that were intended to be worn upon helms. And, as it is scarcely necessary for me to add, every really consistent Crest should be such a figure or device as might be actually worn upon his helm, by a mediæval knight, with dignity and with a happy effect.