A Complete Guide to HeraldryFox-Davies, Arthur Charles
History
A Complete Guide to Heraldry
Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles
Heraldry -- Great Britain
The arms of Lord Lurgan (granted or confirmed 1840) afford another instance
of a chapeau of unusual colour, his crest being: "Upon a chapeau azure
turned up ermine, a greyhound statant gules, collared or."
There are some number of cases in which peers whose ancestors originally
bore their crests upon a wreath have subsequently placed them upon a
chapeau. The Stanleys, Earls of Derby, are a case in point, as are also the
Marquesses of Exeter. The latter case is curious, because although they
have for long enough so depicted their crest, they only comparatively
recently (within the last few years) obtained the necessary authorisation
by the Crown.
At the present time the official form of the chapeau is as in Fig. 663,
with the turn up split at the back into two tails. No such form can be
found in any early representation, and most heraldic artists have now
reverted to an earlier type.
Before leaving the subject of the cap of maintenance, reference should be
made to another instance of a curious heraldic headgear often, but _quite
incorrectly_, styled a "cap of maintenance." This is the fur cap invariably
used over the shields of the cities of London, Dublin, and Norwich. There
is no English official authority whatever for such an addition to the arms,
but there does appear to be some little official recognition of it in
Ulster's Office in the case of the city of Dublin. The late Ulster King of
Arms, however, informed me that he would, in the case of Dublin, have no
hesitation whatever in certifying the right of the city arms to be so
displayed (Plate VII.).
In the utter absence of anything in the nature of a precedent, it is quite
unlikely that the practice will be sanctioned in England. The {382} hat
used is a flat-topped, brown fur hat of the shape depicted with the arms of
the City of Dublin. It is merely (in London) a part of the official uniform
or livery of the City sword-bearer. It does not even appear to have been a
part of the costume of the Lord Mayor, and it must always remain a mystery
why it was ever adopted for heraldic use. But then the chain of the Lord
Mayor of London is generally called a Collar of SS. Besides this the City
of London uses a Peer's helmet, a bogus modern crest, and even more modern
bogus supporters, so a few other eccentricities need not in that particular
instance cause surprise. {383}
CHAPTER XXIV
THE MANTLING OR LAMBREQUIN
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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