[273] Witness the French Revolution, a period at which these distinctions of gentry were temporarily abolished, as if, forsooth, bends and fesses and lions-rampant had conduced to the previous misgovernment of the nation! From the blow which heraldry received in France during that bloody struggle it has never recovered; although, from some recent movements, it appears evident that heraldric honours will, ere long, receive that attention which they deserve in every antient and well-constituted state in Christendom.
[274] The expense of the N.W. corner was defrayed by Dugdale, then Norroy.
[275] Noble.
[276] The present heraldic establishment of Scotland consists of Lyon, king of arms; six heralds, Albany, Rothsay, Snowdoun, Marchmont, Yla, and Ross; and six pursuivants, Unicorn, Kintire, Bute, Dingwall, Ormond and Carrick. The Scottish College, as Noble observes, has not been much distinguished for literature; there is, however, one example, a name familiar to the readers of Marmion:
“Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount,
Lord Lyon king at arms,”
who was author of ‘The Dreme,’ ‘The Complaynt,’ and other politico-moral poems; also of ‘The Three Estates,’ a satirical piece of great humour; his most popular work was ‘The History of Squire Meldrum,’ which “is considered as the last poem that in any degree partakes of the character of the metrical romance.” The principal functionary for Ireland is styled Ulster, king of arms: under him are two heralds, Cork and Dublin, and one pursuivant, Athlone.
[277] Hist. Coll. Arms, p. 352.
[278] Ibid. p. 372.
[279] Noble, p. 372.
[280] Noble.