No. 161.
Martlet.
With the lordly Eagle a few other Birds are associated in early Heraldry: and, after a while, others join them, including the Falcon, Ostrich, Swan, Peacock or Pawne, and the Pelican borne both as a symbol of sacred significance, and also by the Pelhams from being allusive to their name. Cocks, with the same allusive motive, were borne by Cockayne: Parrots, blazoned as “Popinjays,” appear as early as Henry III.: and in a Roll of Edward II., the Sire Mounpynzon has a Lion charged on the shoulder with a Chaffinch—in French a Pinson. The favourite bird, however, of the early Heralds is the Martlet, the heraldic Martin, a near relative of the Swallow or Hirondelle. The Martlet is practically always represented in profile, at rest, and with its wings closed. The few exceptions are modern. In some early examples the feet are shown, as in No. 160: but, in the Shield of Earl Wm. de Valence in Westminster Abbey, A.D. 1296, the Martlet appears feetless, as in No. 161; and at a later period this mode of representation was generally adopted. French Heralds deprive their Martlets of beak as well as feet.
No. 162.— Banner of De Barre.
“As the symbol of a name,” writes Mr. Moule, “almost all Fish have been used in Heraldry; and in many instances Fish have been assumed in Arms in reference to the produce of the estate, giving to the quaint device a twofold interest” (“Heraldry of Fish,” p 13). The earliest examples are the Barbel, the Dolphin, the Luce (or Pike), the Herring, and the Roach. In conjunction with fish we may perhaps consider the Escallop which, as a charge, belongs to the earliest period of Heraldry. The Barbel, so named from the barbs attached to its mouth to assist it in its search for food, was introduced into English Heraldry by John, Count De Barre, whose elder brother married Alianore, eldest daughter of Edward I. At Carlaverock he displayed, as the chronicler has recorded, “a blue banner, crusilly, with two Barbels of gold, and a red border en-grailed,” No. 162. The Dolphin, borne by Giles de Fishbourne (H. 3), and afterwards introduced into several English Shields, is best known as the armorial ensign of the Dauphin, the eldest son and heir apparent of the Kings of France, who bore, marshalled with the arms of France—Or, a Dolphin az. This title of “Dauphin” was first assumed by Charles V., who succeeded to the Crown of France in 1364. In [No. 8] I have shown after what manner the Dolphin was represented by an ancient Greek Artist: in the Middle Ages the heraldic Dolphin appeared as in No. 163. Geffrey de Lucy (H. 3) bears—Gu., three Lucies or. On his marriage with the heiress of Anthony, Lord Lucy, in 1369, Henry, fourth Lord Percy of Alnwick, quartered these three fish, with his own lion (blue on a golden field) and his fusils (gold on a blue field), upon the well-known Shield of the Earls of Northumberland ([Chapter XI]).
| No. 163.— Dolphin. | No. 164.— De Lucy. | No. 165.— Escallop. |
Another Carlaverock Banneret, Robert de Scales, whom the chronicler declares to have been both “handsome and amiable” as well as gallant in action, had “six escallops of silver on a red banner.” This beautiful charge of the escallop, happy in its association with the pilgrims of the olden time, and always held in high esteem by Heralds, is generally drawn as in No. 165.
Reptiles and Insects occur but rarely in English Heraldry. Bees, Flies, Butterflies, and Snails are sometimes found, but they have no place in the earliest Rolls of Arms. Bees, as might be expected, appear in the Arms of Beeston. Azure, three Butterflies, are the Arms of Muschamp, and they are carved twice in the vaulting of the cloisters at Canterbury. Upon a monumental brass in the Church of Wheathampstead, in Hertfordshire, the Shield of Hugo Bostock (about A.D. 1435) bears,—Arg., three Bats, their wings displayed, sa.
Imaginary and Fabulous Beings, some of them the creations of heraldic fancy when in a strangely eccentric mood, frequently appear as Supporters; and, in some cases, they take a part in the blazonry of Shields, or they are borne independently as Badges. A very brief description (all that is necessary) of the greater number of these monsters of unnatural history will be given in the “Glossary of heraldic terms,” in [Chapter X.]; consequently, it is enough here merely to refer to them as having a place in blazon. The Griffin or Gryphon, the most worthy of the group, is comparatively common. The Dragon and the Wivern or Wyvern, both of them winged monsters, differ in this respect, that the former has four legs, while the latter has two only. In early blazon this distinction was not always observed. The Cockatrice, always having two legs, is a Wyvern with a cock’s head.