At first this was a simple affair, worn puggaree-wise, but by degrees it was enlarged in representations until it extended on either side beyond the helm, and was disposed in graceful twists and folds with dagged edges, which have been supposed to represent the cuts it was liable to receive during fighting (figs. [70], [71]).
Fig. 70. Seal of William lord Hastings, c. 1461.
Fig. 71. Seal of William de la Pole earl of Suffolk, 1415.
The usual colour for the mantling, for a long time, has been red, and its lining of ermine or white fur, but there is ample precedence for a difference of treatment, as may be seen in that rich collection of ancient heraldic art, the stall-plates at Windsor.
The earliest surviving plate, that of Ralph lord Bassett (K.G. 1368-90), has a short black mantling, to match the boar's head that forms his crest (fig. [72]). A large group of plates set up in 1421 exhibits a considerable variety. Thus the plate of Sir Sanchet Dabrichecourt has a red mantling powdered with gold lozenges, a treatment suggested by two bands of red similarly decorated which encircle the bush of feathers forming his crest (fig. [73]). The mantling of William lord Latimer is of red and silver stripes, and that of John lord Beaumont, like the field of his shield, is, together with the cap of estate, of blue powdered with gold fleurs-de-lis. Sir Walter Pavely has also a blue mantling.