Peeps at Heraldry

by Phoebe Allen

The roundlet is simply a ring of metal or colour, and is much used in coats of arms at all periods of heraldry. The family of Wells bears a roundlet to represent a fountain, whilst the Sykes charge their shield with three roundlets, in allusion to their name, "sykes" being an old term for a well.

Fig. 29.

In Fig. 29 we see an example of a shield charged with an inescutcheon within a bordure.

CHAPTER IV

THE BLAZONING OF ARMORIAL BEARINGS

In this chapter we shall deal with blazoning, in which "the skill of heraldry" is said to lie.

The word "blazon" in its heraldic sense means the art of describing armorial bearings in their proper terms and sequence.

"To blazon," says Guillim, "signifies properly the winding of a horn, but to blazon a coat of arms is to describe or proclaim the things borne upon it in their proper gestures and tinctures" (i.e., their colours and attitudes) "which the herald was bound to do."[¹]