Fig. 14.—Vair.
Vair was first used as a distinctive badge by the Lord de Courcies when fighting in Hungary. Seeing that his soldiers were flying from the field, he tore the lining from his mantle and raised it aloft as an ensign. Thereupon, the soldiers rallied to the charge and overcame the enemy.
Cinderella's glass slipper in the fairy-tale, which came originally from France, should really have been translated "fur," it being easy to understand how the old French word vaire was supposed to be a form of verre, and was rendered accordingly.
Much might still be said about "varied fields"—i.e., those which have either more than one colour or a metal and a colour alternatively, or, again, which have patterns or devices represented upon them. We can, however, only mention that when the field shows small squares alternately of a metal and colour, it is described as checky, when it is strewn with small objects—such as fleurs-de-lys or billets—it is described as "powdered" or "sown." A diapered field is also to be met with, but this, being merely an artistic detail, has no heraldic significance. Therefore, whereas in blazoning armorial bearings one must always state if the field is checky or powdered, the diaper is never mentioned.
In concluding this chapter we must add that one of the first rules to be learnt in heraldry is that in arranging the tinctures of a coat of arms, metal can never be placed upon metal, nor colour upon colour. The field must therefore be gold or silver if it is to receive a coloured charge, or vice versa. This rule was probably made because, as we said above, the knights originally bore their arms embroidered upon their mantles, these garments being always either of cloth of gold or of silver, embroidered with silk, or they were of silken material, embroidered with gold or silver.
CHAPTER III
DIVISIONS OF THE SHIELD
Although in many shields the field presents an unbroken surface, yet we often find it cut up into divisions of several kinds. These divisions come under the head of simple charges, and the old heralds explain their origin—viz.: "After battles were ended, the shields of soldiers were considered, and he was accounted most deserving whose shield was most or deepest cut. And to recompense the dangers wherein they were shown to have been by those cuts for the service of their King and country, the heralds did represent them upon their shields. The common cuts gave name to the common partitions, of which the others are made by various conjunctions."