A Complete Guide to HeraldryFox-Davies, Arthur Charles
History
A Complete Guide to Heraldry
Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles
Heraldry -- Great Britain
Fleurs-de-lis, like all other Royal emblems, are frequently to be met with
in the arms of towns, _e.g._ in the arms of Lancaster, Maryborough,
Wakefield, and Great Torrington. The arms of Wareham afford an instance of
fleurs-de-lis reversed, and the Corporate Seals of Liskeard and Tamworth
merit reproduction, did space permit, from the designs of the fleurs-de-lis
which there appear. One cannot leave the fleur-de-lis without referring to
one curious development of it, viz. the leopard's face jessant-de-lis (Fig.
332), a curious charge which undoubtedly originated in the arms of the
family of Cantelupe. This charge is not uncommon, though by no means so
usual as the leopard's face. Planché considers that it was originally
derived from the fleur-de-lis, the circular boss which in early
representations so often figures as the centre of the fleur-de-lis, being
merely _decorated_ with the leopard's face. One can follow Planché a bit
further by imagining that this face need not necessarily be that of a
leopard, for at a certain period all decorative art was crowded with
grotesque masks whenever opportunity offered. The leopard's face
jessant-de-lis is now represented as a leopard's face with the lower part
of a fleur-de-lis issuing from the mouth, and the upper part rising from
behind the head. Instances of {276} this charge occur as early as the
thirteenth century as the arms of the Cantelupe family, and Thomas de
Cantelupe having been Bishop of Hereford 1275 to 1282, the arms of that See
have since been three leopards' faces jessant-de-lis, the distinction being
that in the arms of the See of Hereford the leopards' faces are reversed.
The origin may perhaps make itself apparent when we remember that the
earliest form of the name was Cantelowe. Is it not probable that "lions'"
faces (_i.e._ head _de leo_) may have been suggested by the name? Possibly,
however, wolf-heads may have been meant, suggested by _lupus_, or by the
same analogy which gives us wolf-heads or wolves upon the arms of Low and
Lowe.
[Illustration: FIG. 495.--Pomegranate.]
Fruit--the remaining division of those charges which can be classed as
belonging to the vegetable kingdom--must of necessity be but briefly dealt
with.
_Grapes_ perhaps cannot be easily distinguished from vines (to which refer,
page 264), but the arms of Bradway of Potscliff, co. Gloucester ["Argent, a
chevron gules between three bunches of grapes proper"] and of Viscountess
Beaconsfield, the daughter of Captain John Viney Evans ["Argent, a bunch of
grapes stalked and leaved proper, between two flaunches sable, each charged
with a boar's head argent"] are instances in point.
_Apples_ occur in the arms of Robert Applegarth (Edward III. Roll)
["Argent, three apples slipped gules"] and "Or, a chevron between three
apples gules" is the coat of a family named Southbey.
_Pears_ occur in the arms of Allcroft, of Stokesay Castle, Perrins, Perry,
Perryman, and Pirie.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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