A Complete Guide to HeraldryFox-Davies, Arthur Charles
History
A Complete Guide to Heraldry
Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles
Heraldry -- Great Britain
Piles terminating in fleurs-de-lis or crosses patée are to be met with, and
reference may be made to the arms of Poynter and Dickson-Poynder. Each of
these coats has the field pily counter-pily, the points ending in crosses
formée.
[Illustration: FIG. 149.--Pile nebuly.]
[Illustration: FIG. 150.--Pile raguly.]
[Illustration: FIG. 151.--Pile dovetailed.]
An unusual instance of a pile in which it issues from a chevron will be
found in the arms of Wright, which are: "Sable, on a chevron argent, three
spear-heads gules, in chief two unicorns' heads erased argent, armed and
maned or, in base on a pile of the last, issuant from the chevron, a
unicorn's head erased of the field."
THE SHAKEFORK
The pall, pairle, or shakefork (Fig. 153), is almost unknown in English
heraldry, but in Scotland its constant occurrence in the arms of the
Cunninghame and allied families has given it a recognised position among
the ordinaries.
As usually borne by the Cunninghame family the ends are couped and pointed,
but in some cases it is borne throughout.
The pall in its proper ecclesiastical form appears in the arms of the
Archiepiscopal Sees of Canterbury, Armagh, and Dublin. Though {127} in
these cases the pall or pallium (Fig. 154), is now considered to have no
other heraldic status than that of an appropriately ecclesiastical charge
upon an official coat of arms, there can be very little doubt that
originally the pall of itself was the heraldic symbol in this country of an
archbishop, and borne for that reason by all archbishops, including the
Archbishop of York, although his official archiepiscopal coat is now
changed to: "Gules, two keys in saltire argent, in chief a royal crown or."
[Illustration: FIG. 152.--Three piles, two in chief and one in base.]
[Illustration: FIG. 153.--Shakefork.]
[Illustration: FIG. 154.--Ecclesiastical pallium.]
[Illustration: FIG. 155.--Cross.]
[Illustration: FIG. 156.--Cross engrailed.]
[Illustration: FIG. 157.--Cross invecked.]
The necessity of displaying this device of rank--the pallium--upon a field
of some tincture has led to its corruption into a usual and stereotyped
"charge."
THE CROSS
The heraldic cross (Fig. 155), the huge preponderance of which in armory we
of course owe to the Crusades, like all other armorial charges, has
strangely developed. There are nearly four hundred varieties known to
armory, or rather to heraldic text-books, and doubtless authenticated
examples could be found of most if not of them all. But some dozen or
twenty forms are about as many as will be found regularly or constantly
occurring. Some but not all of the varieties of the cross are subject to
the lines of partition (Figs. 156-161). {128}
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