Fig. 58. Seal of Thomas de Moulton, with fan-shaped crest on helm and horse's head. From the Barons' Letter.
PLATE XI.—Early examples of crests.
- A Roger of Leybourne, ob. 1284.
- B Henry de Perci, in 1301.
An early use of a crest proper is furnished by the seal of Roger of Leybourne (ob. 1284). This shows his shield of arms (bearing six lions) hung upon a tree, with his banner (charged with one lion only) behind, and at one side a helm with lion crest ([pl. XI A]). Thomas of Berkeley in 1295 has upon his seal a shield flanked by two mermaids and surmounted by a helm carrying a mitre for a crest. Thomas earl of Lancaster (1296) on two separate seals has a wiver, or two-legged dragon, upon his helm, and this again is repeated upon his horse's head (fig. [59]). The seal of his brother Henry of Lancaster, appended to the Barons' Letter, also shows his helm crested with a wiver (fig. [60]). Two other early examples of crests on seals from the Barons' Letter are shown in figs. [61] and [62]. Sir John Peche, on a seal appended to a deed of 1323-4, has his shield flanked by wivers and surmounted by a helm with squirrel crest. William Montagu earl of Salisbury (1336-7), in the mounted figure of himself on his fine seal, has a demi-griffin fixed upon his crowned helm ([pl. XII B]), and King Edward III shows for the first time, on his seal of 1340, his crest of a crowned leopard standing upon the cap of estate which surmounts his helm.