Arms.—Arg: saltire gu:
Crest.—Monkey statant ppr. environed round the loins and chained or.
Supporters.—Two monkeys environed and chained or.
Motto.—Crom a boo.
Thus every detail of a coat of arms has its own message to deliver, and must not be overlooked. Let us begin with the shield, which is as necessary a part of any heraldic achievement[1] as the canvas of a painting is to the picture portrayed upon it.
[1:] Any complete heraldic composition is described as an achievement.
It actually serves as the vehicle for depicting the coat of arms.
The word "shield" comes from the Saxon verb scyldan, to protect, but the heraldic term "escutcheon," derived from the Greek skûtos, a skin, reminds us that in olden days warriors covered their shields with the skins of wild beasts.
Early Britons used round, light shields woven of osier twigs, with hides thrown over them, whilst the Scythians and Medes dyed their shields red, so that their comrades in battle might not be discouraged by seeing the blood of the wounded. The Roman Legionary bore a wooden shield covered with leather and strengthened with bars and bosses of metal, whilst the Greek shield was more elaborate, and reached from a man's face to his knee. Homer describes Æneas' shield in the "Iliad" thus:
"Five plates of various metal, various mould,
Composed the shield, of brass each outward fold,
Of tin each inward, and the middle gold."
But whether the shield were of basket-work or metal, whether it were borne by a savage hordesman or by a nobly equipped and mounted knight, it has always ranked as its bearer's most precious accoutrement, the loss of which was deemed an irreparable calamity and a deep disgrace to the loser.