Sable betokens constancy, divine doctrine, and sorrow for loss of friends. With
gold, it means long life.
silver—fame.
gules, it excites the fear of enemies.
azure, it shows a desire to appease strife.
vert—joy after sorrow.
purpure—a religious disposition till death.
Vert, per se, means joy, love, and gladness. In poetry it is usually associated with these feelings. He who bears it with
gold, is ‘all in pleasure and joy.’
silver—a sure lieutenant.
gules—a determined fellow.
azure—has excess of mirth.
sable—moderation of ditto.
purpure—bad luck after good fortune.
Purpure, alone, betokeneth jurisdiction, and combined with
or—wisdom and riches.
silver—a peaceable disposition.
gules—policy in war.
azure—just, but unfortunate, service.
sable—‘lamentable as the lapwing.’
vert—‘scorpion-like.’
&c. &c. &c.
The ordinaries, the lines of partition, &c., according to this system, are all significant: thus the bordure signifies a siege; the fesse, command; the cheveron, great note and estimation; per bend, justice; bendy-undy, some notable enterprise achieved by water; the pile, immortal virtue; nebuly, labour and travail. Morgan speaks of the “direct line of self-love; the flecked and wavy line of pride; the clouded line of self-conceit; the indented line of envie; the crenelle line of ambition, &c.”[143]
Among common charges the rose means mercy and justice; the pomegranate, a true soldier; the billet, justice; the garb, plenty, &c.
The following queer passage occurs in Morgan:[144]
“Some of the ancients were of opinion that the forbidden fruit was an aple of green colour, which we term a pomace: but it might aswel been blew, since we term it a hurt: for of that colour is Becanus his Indian fig-tree, which he affirms to be the tree of the forbidden fruit: if it had been red it had been a tortiaux, which hath tortered her posterity ever since; if it had been an orange it was the symbole of dissimulation, by which the woman might easily be deceived: if it had been the golden aples of the sun, the pomegranates, it had purple berries within it that left a stain, being a besant of a waighty guilt: or it might have been silver, for it was fair to the eye, and was a plate that served the worst fruit to mankind.”