A Complete Guide to HeraldryFox-Davies, Arthur Charles
History
A Complete Guide to Heraldry
Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles
Heraldry -- Great Britain
_The Hedgehog_, or, as it is usually heraldically termed, the _Urcheon_
(Fig. 411), occurs in some number of coats. For example, in the arms of
Maxwell ["Argent, an eagle with two heads displayed sable, beaked and
membered gules, on the breast an escutcheon of the first, charged with a
saltire of the second, surcharged in the centre with a hurcheon (hedgehog)
or, all within a bordure gules"], Harris, and as the crest of Money-Kyrle.
_The Beaver_ has been introduced into many coats of late years for those
connected in any way with Canada. It figures in the arms of Lord Strathcona
and Mount Royal, and in the arms of Christopher.
The beaver is one of the supporters of the city of Oxford, and is the sole
charge in the arms of the town of Biberach (Fig. 412). Originally the arms
were: "Argent, a beaver azure, crowned and armed gules," but the arms
authorised by the Emperor Frederick IV., 18th July 1848, were: "Azure, a
beaver or."
[Illustration: FIG. 412.--Arms of the town of Biberach. (From Ulrich
Reichenthal's _Concilium von Constanz_, Augsburg, 1483.)]
It is quite impossible, or at any rate very unnecessary, to turn a work on
armory into an Illustrated Guide to Natural History, which would be the
result if under the description of heraldic charges the attempt were made
to deal with all the various animals which have by now been brought to the
armorial fold, owing to the inclusion of each for special and sufficient
reasons in one or two isolated grants.
Far be it from me, however, to make any remark which should seem to
indicate the raising of any objection to such use. In my opinion it is
highly admirable, providing there is some definite reason in each case for
the introduction of these strange animals other than mere caprice. They add
to the interest of heraldry, and they give to modern arms and armory a
definite status and meaning, which is a relief from the endless monotony of
meaningless lions, bends, chevrons, mullets, and martlets.
But at the same time the isolated use in a modern grant of such an animal
as the kangaroo does not make it one of the peculiarly heraldic menagerie,
and consequently such instances must be dismissed herein with brief
mention, particularly as many of these creatures heraldically exist only as
supporters, in which chapter some are more fully {217} discussed. Save as a
supporter, the only instances I know of the _Kangaroo_ are in the coat of
Moore and in the arms of Arthur, Bart.
_The Zebra_ will be found as the crest of Kemsley.
_The Camel_, which will be dealt with later as a supporter, in which form
it appears in the arms of Viscount Kitchener, the town of Inverness (Fig.
251), and some of the Livery Companies, also figures in the reputed but
unrecorded arms of Camelford, and in the arms of Cammell of Sheffield and
various other families of a similar name.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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