Nicholas Upton, the 15th-century writer on armory, bore “Silver a saltire sable with the ends couped and five golden rings thereon.”
Aynho bore “Sable a saltire silver having the ends flowered between four leopards gold.”
“Mayster Elwett of Yorke chyre” in a 15th-century roll bears “Silver a saltire of chains sable with a crescent in the chief.”
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| Nevile. | Upton. | Aynho. | Elwett. |
Restwolde bore “Party saltirewise of gules and ermine.”
| Fenwick. |
The chief is the upper part of the shield and, marked out by a line of division, it is taken as one of the Ordinaries. Shields with a plain chief and no more are rare in England, but Tichborne of Tichborne has borne since the 13th century “Vair a chief gold.” According to the heraldry books the chief should be marked off as a third part of the shield, but its depth varies, being broader when charged with devices and narrower when, itself uncharged, it surmounts a charged field. Fenwick bore “Silver a chief gules with six martlets countercoloured,” and in this case the chief would be the half of the shield. Clinging to the belief that the chief must not fill more than a third of the shield, the heraldry books abandon the word in such cases, blazoning them as “party per fesse.”
Hastang bore “Azure a chief gules and a lion with a forked tail over all.”
Walter Kingston seals in the 13th century with a shield of “Two rings or annelets in the chief.”