These are the only two conjectures I have to offer; and I do not at present meet with any other historical matter to warrant a third.
Leslie, Earl of Rothes.—The Motto of this Family is "Grip (or Gripe) Fast[328]," and seems to contain a double allusion; first to the old Motto "Firmâ Spe," and afterwards to some parts of the additional Armorial Appendages. I call it the old Motto, from the account Mr. Nisbet gives of the original Bearing and its adjuncts; viz. "Argent, on a Fess, between two Cross-Croslets Azure, Three Buckles Or." Crest, "A Griphon's (or Griffin's) Head couped Proper, charged with a Cross-Croslet fitched Argent." Motto, "Firmâ Spe."[329] Herein the Cross-Croslets repeated, taken together with the new Motto, admit of a religious allusion, as holding fast the Faith of Christ with firm Hope, expressed allegorically by the Head of the Griffin. It may therefore be conceived, that the change of the Motto might take place after the Family, on being ennobled, chose Griffins for Supporters; thereby giving a loose and whimsical translation, if I may call it so, of "Firmâ Spe," by the words "Grip Fast." The ancient Bearings of the Cross-Croslets are now discharged, nothing remaining on the Field but a Bend, instead of a Fess, charged with Three Buckles; so that the meaning, couched under the Cross-Croslets, the Griffin's Head, and the original words of the Motto, is entirely lost: and at present nothing remains but a quaint allusion to the group of those chimerical Animals. The Buckles, borne first on the Fess, and afterwards on the Bend (a Change not uncommon as a Difference, in token of Cadency or Cadetship in Scotland), may likewise have regard to that strong metaphorical description of Christian Defence against the Powers of Darkness in the Sixth Chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, or to the First Epistle to the Thessalonians (Chap. v. 21). "Hold fast that which is good;" viz. the Faith and Hope in the Cross of Christ. In support of this idea, as being primarily religious, it appears that one subordinate Branch of the Family (Leslie of Talloch) bears for a Crest, not a Griffin's, but "An Eagle's Neck, with Two Heads erased Sable;" with the Motto "Hold Fast:" and another has for its Motto "Keep Fast:"[330] so that Grip, or Gripe Fast, may be considered as a mere canting Motto, arising from old Heraldic wit. Leslie of Burdsbank, carries the quartered Coat of the Earl of Rothes, with Differences; with the Crest, "A Buckle Or," and the Motto "Keep Fast."
I close this attempt (for I call it nothing more) with a singular Motto of a Private Family.
Haig, or perhaps Haigh, of Bemerside, has for the Family Motto "Tyde what may," founded on a Prophecy of Sir Thomas Lermont (well known in Scotland by the name of "Thomas the Rhymer," because he wrote his Prophecies in Rhyme), who was an Herald in the Reign of Alexander III. He is said to have foretold the time of his own death; and particularly, among other remarkable occurrences, the Union of England and Scotland, which was not accomplished till the Reign of James VI. some hundreds of years after this Gentleman died. These Prophecies were never published in a perfect state; but the Epitome of them is well known in Scotland, though Mr. Nisbet says it is very erroneous. The original, he tells us, is a Folio MS. which Mr. Nisbet seems to have seen; for he adds, "Many things are missing in the small book which are to be met with in the original, particularly these two lines, concerning his (Sir Thomas Lermont's) neighbour, Haig of Bemerside:
'Tyde what may betide,
Haig shall be Laird of Bemerside.'
"And," continues Mr. Nisbet, "his Prophecy concerning that ancient Family has hitherto been true; for since that time till this day (1702) the Haigs have been Lairds of that place."[331]
"Cave Adsum" is the Motto of Jardin, of Applegirth, Bart. in Scotland. The Ingredients (as they may be called) to which it alludes, are very dispersed, and to be collected from the Supporters, the Bearing, and Crest: the Arms having "Three Mullets charged on the Chief;" the Supporters, "An Armed Man and a Horse;" and the Crest, "A Mullet or Spur-Rowel." This might allude to Justs and Tournaments[332].