Fig. 126. Seal of Edmund duke of Somerset for the town of Bayeux, c. 1445.
It is not necessary here to cite the various supporters borne by the Kings of England, but it may suffice to point out that since the union of the crowns of England and Scotland one of the royal supporters has always been a lion for England and the other a unicorn for Scotland.
In seals of married ladies in which their arms are accompanied by supporters, one often represents the husband and the other the lady's family.
Thus Joan Holand, daughter of Thomas earl of Kent, and wife of Edmund of Langley duke of York, has (after 1393) her husband's half of her impaled shield supported by the falcon of York, and her own half by her father's hind with its crown collar. Cecily Nevill, the wife of Richard duke of York and earl of March, and mother of King Edward IV, has the shield on her fine seal ensigned by a falcon of York and supported by a stag with crown-collar and chain and by a lion of March (fig. [127]). The even more splendid seal of Elizabeth Wydville, queen-consort of King Edward IV, shows as her supporters the lion of March and a lean spotted beast not unlike an otter, collared and chained (pl. [XXV]). The lady Margaret Beaufort, on the other hand, ensigns on both her seals her paternal arms of Beaufort with the Somerset eagle and uses for her supporters a pair of yales (pls. [XXVI], [XXX]).
PLATE XXV.—Arms with crown and supporters of Elizabeth Wydville, queen of Edward IV.
