| No. 132.— Darcy. | No. 131.— De Mortimer. | No. 133.— De Wyllers. |
No. 134.
De Balliol.
The Orle (H. 3), blazoned by early Heralds as a “false escutcheon” (“faux escocheon”), or as an “inescutcheon voided,” is the border of a Shield or Escutcheon—a Shield, that is, voided of the central area of its field, and, like an Inescutcheon, charged on a Shield. The arms of Balliol, No. 134, are—Gu., an Orle arg. (H. 3). These arms are blazoned on many Scottish Seals of the greatest interest, and on the Seals of Balliol College, Oxford. Small charges are frequently disposed about the border of a Shield “in Orle,” as in [Nos. 86] and 132.
The Tressure (H. 3) may be regarded as a variety of the Orle; indeed, in its simplest form it is a very narrow Orle, which is generally set round with fleurs de lys. A Tressure thus enriched is represented in No. 135: in this example all the heads of the fleurs de lys point externally, and all their stalks internally, and this accordingly is blazoned as a “Tressure flory.” In No. 136, which, like No. 135, is a single Tressure, the fleurs de lys are so disposed that the heads and stalks of the flowers point alternately in contrary directions: this is blazoned as a “Tressure flory counterflory.” From this last example the Tressure that is so well known in the blazonry of the Royal Shield of Scotland differs, in being “double.” This, the double Tressure of Scotland, is a combination of two such single Tressures as No. 136, and it is produced from them in the manner following:—From one such single Tressure, as No. 136, all the alternate heads and stalks of the fleurs de lys that point internally are cut away and removed; then a second similar Tressure, of rather smaller size, is denuded of all its external adornment, and in that condition it is placed within the former Tressure, leaving a narrow interval between the two.
| No. 135.— Single Tressure Flory. | No. 137.— Double Tressure flory counterflory. | No. 136.— Single Tressure flory counterflory. |
Each component half of this “double Tressure flory counterflory,” accordingly, has its own independent series of demi-fleurs de lys, the stalks and heads of the flowers alternating, and the one alternate series pointing externally, while the other points internally. When in combination, these two series of demi-fleurs de lys must be so arranged that the heads of the flowers in one series correspond with their stalks in the other, as in No. 137. I am thus particular in describing the process of producing the Royal Tressure, because it is frequently to be seen incorrectly drawn. No. 138, the Royal Shield of Scotland, now displayed in the second quarter of the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom, is thus blazoned—Or, a lion rampt. within a double Tressure flory counterflory, gu. It will be observed that a narrow strip of the golden field of this Shield intervenes between the two Tressures. There are many fine examples of this Shield in Scottish Seals; in the Garter-plate, also, of James V. of Scotland, K.G., at Windsor; and on the Monuments in Westminster Abbey to Mary Queen of Scots (A.D. 1604), and to the Countess of Lennox, the mother of Lord Darnley (A.D. 1577). Mr. Seton (“Scottish Heraldry,” p. 447) states that the Tressure may be borne “triple”; and, after specifying the Scottish families upon whose Shields the same honourable bearing is blazoned, he adds:—“In the coat of the Marquess of Huntly, the Tressure is flowered with fleurs de lys within, and adorned with crescents without; while in that of the Earl of Aberdeen it is flowered and counter-flowered with thistles, roses, and fleurs de lys alternately.”